


Twin Flames

by Fantasy_Fan_223



Category: Winx Club
Genre: Canon Divergence, F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:47:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24114508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fantasy_Fan_223/pseuds/Fantasy_Fan_223
Summary: Bloom’s introduction to the Magical Dimension wasn’t Stella fighting Knut—it was a weary Baltor fighting a monstrous snake. Needless to say, things are going to be different this time around.
Relationships: Bloom/Valtor | Baltor (Winx Club)
Comments: 110
Kudos: 216





	1. Definitely not Magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Out of the blue, I started reading Winx FanFiction and it lead me to rewatching my childhood series with my little sister. While doing so, I remembered why I stopped watching it in the first place (*sends a teary red eyed glare towards Season 5 and 6 with the fugly CGI sections and that fugly Syrenix shit and the LAZY transformation outfits*) how I used to (and apparently still very much do) ship Bloom and Baltor and then an idea lightning struck my brain! Ta-da!
> 
> I’ll be using 4Kids names because that is the version I grew up with, HOWEVER I will be using a mostly Rai storyline because I personally like it a lot more. Honestly, with 4Kids‘s superior dubbing, if they kept the original story in tact, It would be the perfect version! But alas...
> 
> Anyway! I pray you enjoy! Follow if you want more and of course, comments are greatly appreciated and responded to! 
> 
> Here we go!

One did not trap the strongest wizard in the Magical Dimension for an eternity. Who did the Company of Light think they were? No, who did they think _he_ was? Such absolute and misguided pride to freeze him alone with nobody guarding him but a bunch of brainless snakes.

Valtor would laugh out loud at the sheer idiocy of the fact that they even had the very _thought_ if he had the energy to do so. But alas, he did not.

The wizard thanked his lucky stars not for the first time of his lack of companions. With the amount of times he'd stumbled onto the snow covered ice or was forced to lean against an icy cocoon or wall to regain his breath was utterly embarrassing.

Omega was like one brig frosty parasite, chipping away and devouring up any strength and warmth its unfortunate prey could offer it. For a lesser being, it would be a successful prison indeed—but Valtor was anything but a lesser being and his escape (even if it had taken Magix knows how long) further proved this.

As Valtor dragged his feet and frostbite gnawed at his flesh, a slow smirk spread across his lips.

He certainly hoped it hadn't taken him _too_ long to get out of that horrible ice cocoon—he hoped Faragonda, Griffin, and Saladin were alive for, _oh_ how he wanted to see the looks on their faces when he—

Valtor paused, inhaling sharply before his head snapped over his shoulder as the ground shuddered beneath him.

There, slithering from behind a cliff were one of those blasted snakes. The obnoxious thing took one look at him before opening its mouth and spitting a ball of magic at him.

Valtor jumped out of the way and rolled to the ground with a grunt as the spell slammed into the ground where he'd just been standing. The ice beneath it cracked and Valtor scrambled to his feet to dodge another blast.

Gritting his teeth, Valtor held out his hand, ready to shoot a spell of his own before he stopped himself.

He needed his magic for the portal—he couldn't afford to waste it.

Cursing, he spun on his heel and forced his weary legs to run.

* * *

Bloom's eyelids fluttered open to the glaring beams of sunshine pouring from her window.

The girl winced and squinted through it before slowly sitting up with a yawn and stretching her arms.

"Fell asleep reading again, did you?" An amused voice stated, surprising Bloom and causing her to jump and yelp with fright, ruining her graceful wake up and sending her teetering and crashing to her messy bedroom floor.

Scowling as light laughter filled the room and her comforter slid off the mattress and fell over her, Bloom huffed and stood. "Mom? What are you even doing here?"

Vanessa smiled at her daughter and slammed the book in her hands shut. "I was afraid you'd wake up late due to your fairy reading hobby again."

Bloom blushed and looked away as Vanessa continued, "And turns out I was right! I suppose you'll be missing the school bus then?"

The flush disappeared as Bloom's eyes snapped to her still amused mother. "What?!" School! She'd completely forgotten!

Kicking away the blankets tangled around her legs, Bloom ran to her dresser and grabbed her hairbrush. Oh no, no, no, no, no, _no!_ How could she forget!? Mr. Bronwyn had threatened that if she came to class late one more time she'd get deten—!

Bloom's hair brushing faltered when she noticed the reflection of her calendar in the vanity mirror.

July.

Early July to be exact if the circled date—the 9th—and the crossed out days before it said anything.

Bloom turned and gave her laughing mother a halfhearted glare over her shoulder. _"Not_ cool, Mom."

"Oh, I'm sorry sweetie," Vanessa chuckled before giving the red-head a kiss on the brow. "But you _did_ wake up late."

"What do I need to wake up early for?" Bloom frowned up at her. "It's summer break."

"A perfect time for my flower shop business," Vanessa smiled and Bloom's shoulders slumped.

"Oh, Mom..."

"Now, now. You didn't think you'd be drawing and reading about fairies all summer did you?"

Bloom shrugged lamely as Vanessa patted her head. "Hurry and get dressed; we're leaving right after breakfast."

To heck with the "magic conservation" mindset.

The Omega snake roared and reared it his head as Valtor shot it with a blast of dark energy. Its head slammed against a nearby cliff, causing it to rain ice as it collapsed.

Valtor tried and failed to stop himself from gasping for the bitter icy air of the Dimension. Pathetic. One measly blast and he was already winded!

Oh, he couldn't _wait_ to get his full magic back and then some...

Quickly turning away and briskly running onwards, Baltor continued in search of the Andros portal, knowing that that beast would start chasing him again.

Speak of the devil, the thing was moving again, its serpentine body unfurling itself and its scales scratching against the snowy ice.

Valtor huffed heavily in annoyance as he put on more speed. It had been a weak spell after all—

Wait a moment, there!

Just in the distance and surrounded by a swirl of crumbling stone was the portal leading out of this abhorrent Dimension.

Leaping swiftly from ledge to ledge, Valtor soon found himself at the centre. The wizard then wasted no time blasting it open with all his might.

Behind him, the snake slithered closer, forked tongue lapping at its eye as it opened its mouth once more.

Valtor cursed his weakness, gritting his teeth as he poured more magic into his attack. But he was quickly loosing strength, and if that thing hit him and froze him all over again, trapping him in that terrible, terrible limbo once more—

Valtor shook his head and rid his mind of those thoughts, pouring even more magic into his blast as a bead of sweat slid from his brow and promptly froze on his already chilled face.

He wasn't going back. He wasn't. But _damn it_ the portal wouldn't open!

The snake was right behind him now, jaw opened wide, power building up...

An idea momentarily warmed his bitter, (mildly, _mildly)_ scared and frustrated mind and he turned back to the snake with a smirk.

At the last moment, Valtor leapt out of the way of the newest blast, landing nearby before sending his magic at the snake's beam, merging his magic with it and watching as the combined energy slammed into the portal dead on. Excitement bubbled within him as the portal quivered and gleamed slightly.

"Perfect," he muttered under his breath as the idiot snake finally stopped firing. The snake's eyes flashed and it hissed in what Valtor felt was perhaps anger.

"I'm afraid you have nobody to blame but yourself," Valtor drawled as he quickly leapt atop the portal and pressed his glove palm against it, activating it with his magic.

The snake unfortunately was far more persistent than Valtor gave it credit for, and just as he stood while the portal's light surrounded him and gave a mock salute to the beast, it lunged sharply forwards and sank its fangs into his arm.

As the portal dragged them both atop the Andros side of the portal, Valtor roared in pain and blasted the damned thing away. His head thrummed with disorientation as he fell to his knees and clutched at his sleeve, blood darkening it quickly.

He grunted and rolled to the side as the snake sent a blast of magic at him once more before staggering dizzily to his feet.

Valtor's vision swam as whatever venom it injecting into him dispersed throughout his body—it felt almost like liquid ice.

Around him he heard panicked voices, no doubt mermaid guards seeing a snake had broken free and there was no way Valtor could fight them all in this state if they realized _he_ had broken free also.

But he was _not_ going back to Omega.

So that meant he needed to retreat somewhere. Somewhere where he could lay low for a few hours and regain his strength without anyone recognizing him.

Somewhere like Earth.

Valtor held up a quick and shaky shield that kept the snake at bay before concentrating all his magic into making a portal to the magic-less planet. He hoped had enough magic left—yes!

A glowing red portal tore through the sky and as Valtor jumped in, the snake shattered the weak barrier he had put up and followed in hot pursuit.

* * *

"Thank you for all your help, Bloom," Vanessa smiled as Bloom exited the shop and her mother flipped the OPEN sign to CLOSED.

"No problem, it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Bloom admitted with a shrug and a twin smile of her own. "Do you think I can get a foxglove for my room? They're super pretty!"

Vanessa tapped Bloom's nose as she fished the car keys from her pocket. "Only if you can pay for it, missy."

"What?" Bloom asked, smile becoming teasing as she crossed her arms and rose an eyebrow. "No fair, Mom I'm your daughter!"

"Mhm, and _I'm_ a store owner," Vanessa responded with an equally teasing smile. "Can't give away my merchandise for free now can I?"

"How about for my birthday?" Bloom asked as she slipped into the front passenger seat of the car and took the AC off. It had been needed in the late summer morning, but now in the late summer evening, it was a bit too cold.

"If you feel so strongly for it, we'll see. All though speaking of gifts..." Vanessa gave Bloom a sly look from the corner of her eye as they pulled out of the street parking lot and headed for home.

Bloom gasped excitedly and clasped her hands together, eyes glittering with excitement. "You got me something?"

"Well, your father and I decided you're becoming a grown young lady now and we figured you'd like your own form of transportation," Vanessa said as Bloom grinned brightly, excitement shooting through the roof.

Finally, _finally_ she'd gotten a car! She could take her drivers' lessons and drive anywhere she wanted!

Ha! Take _that_ Mitsy!

Bloom unbuckled just before the car was driving into the driveway and practically threw herself out the door. Half breathless, she spun around in search of her brand new car.

"Where is it?" Bloom asked excitedly as Vanessa exited the car as well. "Is it in the garage?"

"Take it easy sweetie!" Vanessa said through light laughter. "Don't you want to have dinner first?"

Bloom emphatically shook her head. "I can't _possibly_ eat when I'm so excited!"

"Ooooh I hear an excited daughter out there!" A familiar voice called in a sing-song-voice. Both mother and daughter turned to see their husband and father respectively exit the house with a huge smile on his face.

"Dad!" Bloom cried gleefully as she ran up to him and hugged him tightly. The man let out a surprised grunt at the constricting squeeze he was in before his daughter released him. "Thank you so much! I can't believe you and Mom would surprise me like this!"

"Aha! Knew you'd love it! Your Mom thought I was crazy!" Mike beamed as he stood beside his wife and draped an arm over her.

"Well, actually I didn't show her yet," Vanessa said.

"Well what the heck are you waiting for? Let's not leave our little girl in suspense!" Mike responded and Bloom couldn't have agreed more.

Taking the car keys from Vanessa, he flicked through them until reaching the garage key. Bloom squealed in anticipation as he unlocked the handle and pushed it upwards with a grunt.

Bloom dashed forwards, eyes wide and hopeful. But slowly her smile faded into a confused frown as she turned to Mike. "Um...where is it?"

"Right in front of you, of course!" Mike said proudly, gesturing to...a bike.

It was a bike. Not a car, but a _bike._ A bike with petals and a basket, and without a motor. A bike that Misty would surely laugh at once she inevitably found out about it.

"Voila! Charming, isn't it?"

Disappointment weighed heavy on Bloom's shoulders and she frowned solemnly before she could mask it.

"Not...what you were expecting?" Vanessa questioned hesitantly as she stepped forward and placed a hand on one of Bloom's slumped shoulders.

"Erm..." Bloom shuffled her feet awkwardly and hugged herself, not daring to look at her no doubt hurt and confused dad.

"Is there is something wrong with it?" Mike asked dejectedly, a complete 180 from his sunny disposition a mere moment ago.

"No! No!" Bloom said quickly and forced a bright smile as she turned back to Mike. "It's super cute. And it's even in my favourite colour! A-and the basket is...wow. I can put that foxglove I wanted in there, right Mom?"

Vanessa too forced an awkward smile and nodded. "Of course sweetie!"

Bloom turned to her still unconvinced father before hugging him once more and planting a kiss on his forehead. "Thanks, Dad. Really. I'll take it for a ride right now and I'll tell you how it is, okay?"

As Bloom kicked the stand up and rolled her bike out of he garage, she heard Vanessa mutter to Mike, "I _told_ you she wanted a car, Mike."

"Oh, I _know_ but wouldn't it be safer her for her on a bike? You know, until she's a bit older?"

Bloom sighed softly to herself and mounted the bike before peddling off. Sixteen-years-old and her parents _still_ thought she was a little girl. But then again, how could she blame them?

Bloom still read fairy tales and middle grade novels about goblins and angles, and telekinetic gifted kids. She still had Sailor Moon VHS sets under the TV and Harry Potter novels in her bookshelf and she still daydreamed about going to magical realms herself.

Who was she kidding? She couldn't handle a car, she couldn't even clean her room properly! And she certainly wasn't mature enough.

"Bloom!"

The red-head blinked out of her despondent musing to glance over at a familiar restaurant owner waving from the doorstop. "Say hello to your mother for me!"

Bloom smiled and waved back. "Will do, Mr. Ginero!" She called back before rounding a ben.

This wasn't so bad; the wind streaming through her hair, the feeling of freedom she felt as she peddled faster and faster.

Bloom smiled softly to herself, hesitating before letting go of the handlebars and spreading her arms spread eagle. She immediately stopped after two seconds when she teetered too far to the left.

"I think I'm going to enjoy you," Bloom told the bike as she patted the handlebars as if it were a horse. When she got home, she'd give her parents a far more sincere thank you.

When finally reaching her favorite park in Gardenia, she slowed down, seizing her peddling and gripping the handle breaks.

As the bike came to a halt, she dismounted and wheeled it into the cooler shade of the woods, leaning it against the nearest tree and sitting down with a little shiver. She probably should've brought a sweater, evening shade was pretty chill—

A moment later, Bloom was blinded by a vivid glow of red. She groaned and shaded her eyes with a palm. What on Earth was that?

Just as soon as it appeared, the light disappeared. The sound of a pained grunt and _**THUD**_ that shook the ground followed immediately after.

"What the..." Bloom muttered, confusion pinching her brow as she stood slowly.

"You're a persistent beast, aren't you?" A distant voice snarled as Bloom walked gingerly forwards. What the heck was going on?

She fought an internal battle with apprehension and curiosity before curiosity won out and Bloom found her feet carrying her deeper into the forest. She stopped and gripped a tree trunk as another thud shook the ground and an eldritch _hiss_ filled the air.

Mounting apprehension tugged Bloom backwards once more, but once again mounting curiosity won and pulled her forwards towards the strange noises. This time, a dull violet light flashed through the darkness of the looming evergreens followed by another hiss, another flash of bright light—this time green—and the toppling of a nearby tree.

Bloom gasped and jumped out of the pitching tree's path, falling with an "oomph!" as she landed hard on her stomach. However, Bloom was beginning to think she had also hit her head in the fall, because just before her in a clearing lined with uprooted trees stood a man and—a big snake.

No, big was an understatement. It was huge, _ginormous!_ The size of a small building!

Bloom's eyes bugged out of her head as she scrambled to her feet and darted behind a still standing tree. This was insane! What the heck was going on here?!

She rubbed her eyes and smacked the side of her head before peeping from behind the tree.

Okay. That made the hallucinations worse because _now_ that Big Snake was shooting a green laser thing at the man and he was shooting a dull purple one right back!

Bloom pulled her head back again and sank to the ground, wincing every time a tree fell with a thud due to a blast of...of that—whatever they were firing!

 _'Magic.'_ Her mind supplied but she shook her head no. That was ridiculous! There was no way there was magic, or giant snakes!

But then...what was she looking at? Projectors didn't knock down trees, neither did fireworks, but maybe giant snakes and guys with magic did.

"Get a hold of yourself, Bloom!" The teen smacked one of her cheeks and hissed to herself. "Do you know how crazy you—?!"

Bloom clamped a hand over her mouth to stop the shriek of surprise from escaping as she heard the man hit the other side of her hideout tree with a pained cry.

"B-blast," Bloom heard the man mutter to himself as she stood and peaked once more. The giant snake was rearing its head, opening its mouth to let a giant ball of green magic (nope, stop it, Bloom! _not_ magic) from within it.

The man struggled to stand but failed miserably, cursing under his breath as he clutched his maroon sleeved arm.

Logic told Bloom to run. Run, run, _run_ and pretend this situation never happened.

Empathy told Bloom to do something. It didn't matter what, but if she ran away now, that magic wizard guy (STOP) would be done for.

And so, before logic could mentally berate her for being an idiot, Bloom jumped from behind the tree and stood in front of the wounded man, arms spread wide protectively.

"Stop!" She commanded sharply to the snake, eyes narrowed and brow furrowed seriously.

The snake paused, closing its mouth and tilting its head to the side.

"Foolish Earthling!" The man snapped from behind Bloom, and the teen turned to look at him indignantly as he continued, "What in Magix name are you doing?"

Crap. What _was_ she doing? She just jumped in front of a stranger to stop an angry magic (oh my _God,_ Bloom!) snake, what was she thinking?

Bloom's indignant frown became a sheepish smile. "Uh...you know, I'm not really sure—"

The snake hissed and lunged for Bloom quick as whip, and the girl turned back wide eyed to the giant beast. She yelled a horrified _"No!"_ as she squeezed her eyes shut and put her hands in front of her in a futile attempt to stop her incoming death.

A flash of bright light burned her closed lids and Bloom heard the snake hiss angrily. Opening her eyes gingerly, Bloom saw the monster shaking its singed scales side to side while orange sparks colored the early night sky and her shaking hands tingled.

"Did—" Bloom turned to look at the man over her shoulder. "Did _you_ do that?"

The man didn't answer, but probably not seeing as how is eyes were just as wide and his mouth just as dropped as hers was.

But if _he_ didn't do it...

The snake's tail whipped around and slammed into Bloom's stomach, sending her flying to through the air and crashing to the ground with a scream.

The snake then wrapped its giant tail around her and held her up, opened its jaw, and preparing to end her life.

The more Bloom struggled, the tighter it squeezed, causing her to wheeze. Her vision blurred and unwanted tears sprung to her eyes as she choked for air and found next to nothing. The snake's magic light colored her paling face green as she gritted her teeth and writhed harder, feeling an indignant burning pooling in her chest.

"Let. _**GO!"**_ Bloom screamed, and suddenly the sickly green was replaced with a burning white light emanating from her body.

The snake's eyes widened as a fiery dragon shot out of Bloom's chest and spiraled its serpentine form menacingly before slamming its flaming head against the snake's.

There was a burst of white light and the feeling of weightlessness before Bloom fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

When the only light left was the shining moon, and Bloom lay on the grass trying to regain her breath, she heard the snake fall hard with a ground shaking thud as well.

She needed to get up, she needed to stand. But her mind was reeling, swimming with questions and confusion and denials.

What was going on?

A red light like the one before lit up the sky and only then was Bloom blinked out of her daze. Slowly, she rolled onto her stomach and sat up on her knees, watching as the man she'd jumped in front of held his hand aloft and the thoroughly charred snake _fell through the glowing red ground—_

Bloom groaned and placed a hand her head. She was getting a headache, this was way, _way_ too much to take in! This—this was...ridiculous!

Giant snakes, guys shooting lasers, fire dragons coming out of her chest? Those were the stuff found in the pages of a Harry Potter book, not real life! And yet here, _in real life,_ it happened right before her very eyes.

"You."

Bloom gasped and her head snapped up, finding the man staring down at her with narrowed ice blue eyes. His long strawberry-blonde hair danced in the wind and his gloved hands were clenched at his sides, blood dripping from one of the sleeves.

He took a step towards her and Bloom fought the urge to crab crawl backwards away from him. She was absolutely certain that look in his eyes wasn't a "Hey, thanks for saving me!" look.

He opened his mouth to say something further when his knees buckled and he collapsed with weak gasp for breath.

"Oh!" Bloom cried as she leapt forward from her kneeling position to catch him. She grunted at the weight as she slowly lowered him to the ground, staring worriedly at his unconscious face, the shuddering rise and fall of his chest and then the bloodstain on his arm.

She needed to take him home with her—she may not have completely grasped what had happened tonight but she _did_ know a cut bleeding that much was the opposite of safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: “Hey Fantasy! Can those snakes leave the Omega Dimension?” I REALLY don’t know, just roll with it, yeah? XD
> 
> Anyway, Hope you lovely people enjoyed! Happy Mother’s Day!
> 
> Fantasy Fan OUT!


	2. You’re a Fairy, Bloom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Wow I’m super happy with all the attention this story has gotten thus far, thanks so much guys, I hope you guys like this chapter too!
> 
> I’m super excited to share this story with all of you, but before we begin I’d like to briefly ask my readers—particularly the ones in America—to stay safe! The world is changing but it won’t change without destruction, be mindful and don’t put yourself at unnecessary risk! If you’d like to support Black Lives Matter and don’t want to protest, I have petition links in my bio! Retweeting informative tweets on Twitter can also help!

Thank goodness it was nighttime, because otherwise there'd be many awkward excuses spilling from Bloom's lips towards curiously staring strangers as to why she had an unconscious man awkwardly draped over her bike.

Still, she wanted to hurry; she didn't want to try her luck. Plus, using the strange man's coat as a makeshift bandage wouldn't stop the bleeding forever. Her dad surely had a first aid kit she could use though.

But walking—let alone hurrying—was proving difficult.

Wizard Guy was _heavy,_ and having to wheel her already weighted bike with a sleeping dude draped over top it as well was nothing if not a strain on her arms.

As she strained and trudged through the quiet night however, Bloom spared the man glances. Snake fighting magic weilder aside, his clothes were noticeably strange as well—long boots whose tips currently dragged across the sidewalk, white frilled collard blouse and dark vest that had been underneath the long maroon jacket he had been wearing, along with similarly dark gloves. And she was _pretty sure_ he was wearing eyeshadow.

Maybe it was whack to her _,_ but Bloom figured Hot Topic was the clothing of choice for wizards, or warlocks, or magicians—whatever he was.

Bloom sighed to herself. Of course, there was also the strange enigma that was _her._ A dragon had come out of her chest, light had exploded from her palms—what else could it be _but_ magic?

But then again, how could that be? Her parents were perfectly ordinary! If they hadn't any magic, why did she?

Finally, with a feeling of thankful euphoria, Bloom reached her house. She stopped by the front door and glanced down at Wizard Guy. Now, how to carry him inside?

She already knew the answer to that question and her shoulders were already drooping at the very thought. Draping him over a bike and carting him through nighttime Gardenia had been tough enough, carrying him up the steps would be nigh impossible for Bloom and her weary muscles.

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, the door opened and Vanessa stepped out. "Bloom! There you are, we were getting worr..." her voice trailed off as her eyes fell to Wizard Guy, blinking slowly.

"Um...can you get Dad?" Bloom asked with an awkward smile. "Don't worry, I'll tell you guys _everything_ but I need to get him inside."

* * *

It was cold, so very cold and suffocating. His magic was waning but he couldn't give up, even if he was being choked with the tiny amount of oxygen present and the ice pressing around him on all sides, even when every cell in his body was slowly becoming obsolete.

He needed to fight. He needed to—

Valtor's eyes snapped open and his upper body shot upwards as a shuddering gasp left his lips. His vision was blurry, and the cold was biting at his skin again, and there were voices—

"H...y...okay?" A voice sliced through the ringing in his ears and a dainty hand was placed on his shoulder, causing a jolt of electricity to spark his Dragon Flame. The hand tensed as well, as if its owner too had felt the sharp bolt of magic.

Valtor's eyes slowly located the hand, gaze travelling further up the arm it was attached to, to the shoulder, and finally to a vaguely familiar face. Wide cerulean blue eyes watched him worriedly, the colour in stark contrast to the fiery red hair crowning her head.

That girl...

And it all came rushing back like an exploding dam—the snake, the girl wielding the Dragon Fire...and most importantly escaping Omega.

Shaking hands pushed against the surface he was on top of—cushion, not snow. His eyes then found a woman with dark hair and a blonde man, a ceiling fan, a TV; mundane furniture. They fell to the bandage on his arm, the blanket draped over his body and finally back to the girl.

Yes, that's was right. He was far, far away from that dreadful place, and the girl, _this_ girl had rescued him from that troublesome snake that had followed him in an attempt to cut his freedom short.

This girl who for some reason possessed the Dragon Fire.

Too tired to play with theories at present, Valtor closed his eyes and sighed softly in relief, letting the phantom chills leave his body.

With the ringing in his ears subsiding, he could here the girl prompt "How do you feel?" Spurring Valtor to open his eyes once more. The man and woman—the girl's parents he presumed—crowded beside him as well with similar expressions of curious concern.

As if in response to that question, a headache blossomed in Valtor's head and he pressed the edge of his palm against his forehead with a pained exhale of breath. "Where...am I?" He rasped, despising the pathetic croak of his voice. Goodness, he _hated_ making lacklustre first impressions...

"Don't worry, dear. You're perfectly safe," the woman said with a kind smile.

"Must've been a serious mugging, huh?" The man said with a frown.

"Dad!" The girl said, removing her hand from Valtor's shoulder finally and crossing her arms. "I _told_ you, he wasn't mugged he was attacked by a giant magic breathing snake!"

"And _I_ told you that that's ridiculous!" The man responded with a dramatic throwing of his arms.

"But I saw it with my own eyes! I know it makes no sense but—!"

"Honey, are you sure you weren't just confused?" The woman questioned her daughter.

Interesting. Just as he perceived during his rescue, this girl had been violently thrusted into the hidden world of magic—that knocked out a couple of his theories as to who she was, strengthened his most prominent one, _and_ gave him an excuse to properly introduce his greatness without worrying about getting blasted into next century.

"Your daughter is correct," Valtor cut in, causing the three Earthlings to glance towards him. He cleared his throat to rid it of its rasping texture and moved the blankets off him, bringing his legs down to the carpet and sitting up. "There was no robbery taking place—truly it'd take more than a couple of humans with switchblades to take down a wizard."

The two adults exchanged a look of sheer incredulousness while the girl's eyes lit up with wonder and curiosity, lips morphing from an annoyed frown to an eager smile. "So I was right then; you _are_ a wizard."

"Not just _any_ wizard," Valtor responded with a smug smirk. "You just so happen to be speaking to the most powerful wizard in the Magic Dimension."

"The most powerful?" The girl asked curiously, sitting at the arm of the chair and watching him with a tilted head. "So are you like...a magic celebrity?"

Valtor chuckled and his smirk broadened. "In a sense." More notorious than lovingly famous, but he supposed it was the same thing and he was proud of the reputation either way. He placed an arm over his chest and gave the most elegant bow he could muster while still sitting. "My name is Valtor."

"Hi, Valtor," The girl said warmly. "I'm Bloom."

Bloom.

Well...there was no doubt who she was now; a teenager possessing the Dragon Fire named Bloom. Valtor fought the urge to grin, but managed to show restraint.

It would seem that weakling Daphne wasn't good at hiding things after all.

He could kill her. Right here and now, one blast to the heart and one big threat to his power would be eliminated forever.

Two reasons why he wouldn't.

Exhibit A, this girl couldn't even transform yet; what would the history books say? _"The Greatest Wizard of all time killed one of his greatest rivals but **only** because she was naive, unprepared, and didn't know how to lift a finger to defend herself."_?

Of course, when he came into ultimate power he'd eradicate anyone who _tried_ to say such a thing—but even if the Magical Dimension didn't know the truth, _he_ would. Imagine waking up every morning and looking himself in the mirror knowing how pathetic he was?

Exhibit B, Baltor was in abysmal shape due to spending all his magic breaking enchanted ice. It would take _ages_ to regain his full power—ages he simply didn't have; people would become aware of his disappearance from Omega eventually. He would need aide getting it all back.

"Magic celebrities? Wizards? _Okay,"_ the man said, garnering Valtor and Bloom's attention as he shook his head with crossed arms. "I think you two lost your wallets _and_ your minds during that mugging."

Valtor's smirk immediately melted into an annoyed scowl as the insolent man walked towards the cord phone sitting atop a simple table. "I'm calling the police, you can tell them all about the muggers and then we can call Dr. Silverman to deal with your delusion problems."

Valtor rose a hand and pointed at the phone, shooting a beam of magic from his fingertip whilst ignoring the immediate wave of dizziness that came over him. He had to quickly place his hand back on the couch to re-steady himself—it was pathetic, truly.

But the end result was absolutely worth it.

The magic outlined the phone and its jack in violet light before seconds later, the phone jumped from the blonde man's hand and wrapped its rapidly elongating cord around his body.

He cried out in horror as his bound figure struggled against the curled telephone cord while the phone jack split in the middle and opened like a mouth, exposing a row of fangs dripping with saliva while it snarled like an angry dog.

The red head gasped in horror and the woman cried, "Mike!" As the mentioned screamed in sheer terror.

Pleased, Valtor snapped his fingers and the phone jack returned to normal, the phone and its cord unraveling swiftly and slamming back to its place atop the phone jack.

The man—Mike—staggered backwards against his wife, clutching his chest and panting wide eyed.

"Do you still find me to be a deluded madman?" Valtor questioned with a condescending smirk.

The man spluttered a non-answer in response and Valtor relished in the sight of his trembling form—he had missed this dearly.

"Was that really necessary?" Bloom demanded with a frown. "You could have really hurt him!"

"Hardly," Valtor drawled, turning back to her. "Magic is all about intent, and my intent wasn't to hurt, it was to scare. Besides that..." he glanced at his palm and clenched into a fist with an annoyed sigh. "My magic is rather...pitiful at this time." Having his powers diluted before being sealed was one thing, but using almost all of his remaining powers up shattering the ice he was incased in made it considerably weaker.

Looking up from his hand, he turned back to Bloom, a decision already taking root in his mind as he gave her the most sincere smile he could muster. "Thus, had you not used your own magic to save me, I would have surely met my end tonight; thank you."

Bloom blushed at the praise and looked away, batting her hands through the air. "Oh, it was...it was nothing really. I seriously didn't know what I was doing."

" _'Nothing'_ is a grave understatement," Valtor corrected. "Tonight you showed exceptional ability—the Dragon Fire, the most powerful form of magic in all the Realms."

"The...Dragon Fire?" Bloom questioned, staring down at her hands in confusion. _"I_ have that power?"

"But how can that be possible?" The woman asked in confusion. "Bloom is completely ordinary."

"Ordinary!" Valtor laughed and shook his head. "Your daughter isn't ordinary by fairy standards let alone Earthling standards."

"'Fairy standards?'" Bloom said slowly, leaning forward on the couch arm and clutching the material tightly. "What do you...are you...?"

"I'm sure you know the answer to that," Valtor said simply.

 _"Me?_ A fairy?" Bloom breathed, eyes glittering with delight and lips parted in awe. She rose her hands to clasp them in glee but this caused her to loose her balance, sending the girl tumbling off the sofa arm with a shriek.

Valtor's eyes widened in surprise at the sight as her parents gasped. "I'm fine!" Bloom called, face muffled by the yellow carpet while holding up a thumb.

She was going to be _far_ too easy.

* * *

"I can't believe a prisoner escaped," a Prison Enforcer grumbled as he stared cross armed at the crumbled structure that used to be an ice prison. "'Impenetrable prison' my foot."

"Give it some slack," another said, crouching to the snowy ground and picking up a wooden plaque with his gloved hands. "Wasn't just _anyone_ who escaped."

He showed the plaque to his companion and he cursed. "Valtor. If _he's_ the one that's out—"

"—then it's trouble," the second man said grimly.

"Nobody knows where he went?" Another asked.

"Nope. The mermaid guards say they saw one of the snakes and a flash of light...but that's it. He probably teleported out of there."

The Prison Enforcers huffed in annoyance and glared up at the dark snowing sky. "Honestly, you'd think there'd be tracking spells in place but _no."_

"Well we might just have the next best thing!" Another called, waving a piece of maroon cloth around.

The two men exchanged a look before they and the others near earshot swiftly migrated towards the triumphantly grinning guard.

"Look here, looks like the snake the mermaids saw got him!" He said, showing the bloodied cloth to everyone.

"So?" One demanded. "What's that supposed to do?"

"Track him, of course! Put this in a scanner or use a spell and boom, he's all ours!"

"Okay, but this is _Valtor_ we're taking about. Even if we do find him, how are we supposed to detain him?" One said.

"Psh, like that'll matter!" The guard with the cloth scoffed, batting a hand through the air. "I mean look! Those dumb snakes got him—he's clearly off his game."

"We don't know that," another guard insisted.

"Agreed," said yet another. "I say we tell their Royal Majesties of Andros—they can send a team of fairies and wizards."

"If we do that we'll start a Dimension wide panic!" The cloth holder said. "We do this ourselves, we get him and nobody knows he's gone."

"Haven't the mermaids already ruined that plan?" Another guard questioned.

"They saw a snake, not a prisoner. As far as they're concerned, nothing got out."

"But this is _Valtor_ not just a _prisoner."_ The first one repeated seriously. "We _should_ cause a panic—don't you remember what he and The Ancestral Witches did sixteen years ago to Sparx? Hell, what he's done to countless realms _before_ that?"

"Exactly why we should get him before anything bad happens!"

"Guys, VALTOR!"

"Then stay behind, coward," the cloth guard said with a snarl. "We have a reputation to uphold as the Dimension's finest jailers and some damn wizard isn't going to ruin that! We _are_ going to find that escapee. Anyone have a scanner on hand?"

* * *

Bloom had never been self conscious of her room—sure it was usually a mess but she never felt too bothered by it.

That was...until she gained a visitor. Now every discarded pair of jeans, every crumpled ball of paper, and every sticky stain atop her desk was hyper focused to her gaze, and she found herself grateful that Wizard Guy—Valtor—had opted to leaning against the doorframe waiting for the go ahead to enter rather then stepping into the horror scene that was Bloom's Bedroom.

"I'm sorry," Bloom said sheepishly, throwing a handful of clothes into her dirty basket. "I usually don't have visitors so I don't clean up much—be ready in a sec!" At least this gave her a moment to think about what was happening.

She, Bloom Peters was a fairy. Pausing in the act of hanging up a jean jacket, Bloom glanced at one of the many fairy drawings taped to her wall, dreamy smile finding its way onto her lips.

She could hardly believe it—even after pinching herself five times, and she was bursting with questions to ask Valtor.

Bloom straightened her blankets, put all her drawing papers into a neat pile, and stepped back with a pleased nod and smile. "Alright! All done."

Valtor took the implied invitation and stepped into the room at last, eyes trailing the fairy pictures on the wall with an amused lift to his lips. "I see you're already rather intrigued with magic."

"You have _no_ idea!" Bloom gushed with eagerly clasped hands. "I've been dreaming about being a fairy since I was four and to learn it was the truth all along is just...wow, you know? I'm still worried I might be dreaming—" Bloom pinched her arm for a sixth time and winced. "—alright, nope."

Valtor chuckled and turned back around as Bloom excitedly went to her desk and handed him the fairy art book she'd been given for her sixteenth birthday last December—courtesy of her father.

"Is your— _our_ world anything like this?" Bloom asked eagerly as Valtor opened the book and flicked through the pages with a single finger and appraisingly tilted head.

"Hmm. I'd say the only thing these humans got right were the wings and the glitter." Valtor stated simply as he closed the book and handed it back to Bloom. "Long dresses are seldom a costume you get with a fairy form, and pointed ears are for the elves—thank the Dragon for _that."_

"Fairy forms?" Bloom asked as she took the book back.

"When a fairy manages to moderately grasp her magic, she will unlock her Base fairy form. Of course, this usually happens when the fairy is four or five so you're a late bloomer in that regard—"

"Pun intended?" Bloom asked with a teasing smile and raise of her brow.

Valtor paused and blinked slowly at her, confusion knitting his brows. "What...is a _pun?"_

Bloom's eyes widened. "Oh! Well a pun is—um," Bloom frowned in thought, hugging the book closer to her chest as if it would compress the answers out of her before shaking her head. "You know what, I'm bad at explaining. Continue?"

Valtor regarded her for a moment more before complying. "As I was saying, a fairy starts off with her Base fairy form and the more acts of sincerity and empathy she portrays, the stronger she becomes."

"What'll my Base fairy form look like?" Bloom asked.

"I do believe that depends on age, personality, and power type. A fairy's Base outfit changes during her late teenage or young adult years if she unlocks it beforehand. It can also change with personality but...that is rare."

Bloom nodded slowly. "So...basically I have to wait and see?"

"Correct."

Bloom had never been much of a fashionista but she couldn't help but feel mildly excited about what her Base fairy form would like—and she was going to have wings! Freaking _wings!_

She was about to ask Valtor another question when a loud _**BOOM**_ shook the house. Bloom heard her father cry, "What?!" And her mother exclaim in horror followed by, "He's in here, spread out!"

Bloom gasped in fear and Valtor frowned.

"What's going on?!" Bloom cried as violet magic sparked at Valtor's fingertips. He strode out of the bedroom and looking over his shoulder telling her, "Meddlesome fools."

Bloom hesitated for a moment before following after him. Wether she could use magic yet or not was irrelevant—her parents were in trouble.

"Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way," A man's voice proclaimed as Bloom stopped behind Valtor who was watching the scene with narrowed eyes from the staircase.

The living room was filled with multiple figures in strange electric glowing skintight apparel, orange goggles and weird caps atop their heads. They had guns trained on her parents as they watched petrified from the wall they were cornered against, hugging one another.

One man was holding up Valtor's maroon jacket with one hand and a weird circular device that was scanning it in green light.

"Tell us where—"

One of the gunman didn't get to finish, because Valtor had shot a thick beam of light from his palm and blasted him against the wall, causing hanging picture frames to crash to the ground.

"Gentlemen!" Valtor announced with a smug smile that Bloom was beginning to think was his signature thing. Everyone in the living room turned to him and Bloom, the men with guns pointing them threateningly at their direction. "Are we having a problem?" Valtor continued, twirling his finger in the air.

The jacket being held by one of the men was magically torn from his grip and found its way into Valtor's waiting hand.

"It's him! Get ready, men!"

"What do we go?" Bloom asked anxiously as Valtor causally slipped his arms through the maroon sleeves and shrugged the rest of the coat on. How he was being so calm about this baffled her.

 _"You_ are going to get your parents to safety," Valtor said, rolling his neck. _"I_ am going to dispose of your unwanted guests—do try and stay out of my way."

And with that, Valtor vaulted over the banister and blasted a guard in the face simultaneously, landing in a crouch that allowed him to avoid the retailed gun blast aimed at his head.

Bloom gasped and quickly dashed down the steps in time to avoid the blast as it splintered the stairs. Eyes darting to where her parents watched wide eyed.

Quickly, she jumped over a man that Valtor had sent sprawling to the ground and twisted out of the way of a screaming one that had been blasted against the banister, further splintering the poor wood.

Bloom sympathized with Mike's wince at the rapidly deteriorating state of the house as she quickly reached him and Vanessa.

"Come on! We have to get out of here!" She said, gripping both their arms and pulling them towards the destroyed front door.

As they reached the crumbling archway Bloom glanced over her shoulder to find Valtor standing over his newest victim with a pleased smirk—oblivious to the man pointing a gun at his back.

Bloom gasped and called, "Look out!"

Valtor glanced up at her, frowning in questioning before he was shot. With a cry of pain he tumbled to the plaster covered carpet, the back of his coat smoking as he struggled to stand again with a strained grunt.

Once outside, Bloom let go of her parents and attempted run back into the house to aid Valtor, only to be stopped abruptly by Vanessa grabbing her arm.

"Bloom! Sweetie, you can't go in there it's too dangerous."

"I _have_ to help him," Bloom said firmly, pulling out of the grasp and dashing into the war zone, ignoring the calls of her parents.

The man who had shot Valtor kicked him onto his back and aimed his gun at his chest with a smirk. "Told 'em you were off your game."

Gritting her teeth, Bloom grabbed a chunk of rubble and smacked it against the man's skull, wincing when he crumpled to the ground in a heap.

 _"Oh!_ Did I kill him? Oh my gosh I hope I didn't kill—!" Bloom was cut off as Valtor swiftly shot a spell at something from behind her. Turning swiftly, Bloom saw it was another gunman who had no doubt attempted to attack her from behind as well.

"Wow. Thanks," she said with a sigh of relief as Valtor staggered to his feet behind her with a grunt.

"Blasted...gah..." he stumbled forward, and Bloom darted forwards to catch him, allowing him to lean against her even though he was still as heavy as ever.

"Thank you," he muttered, slowly regaining his balance before holding his hand upwards. One by one, each one of the either unconscious or groaning guards disappeared in a flash of red.

"Where'd they all go?" Bloom asked as Valtor's hand dropped limply to his side and he let out a tired sigh, leaning his weight on her again.

"Limbo. They won't be getting out," Valtor responded. Bloom didn't know what "Limbo" was but it sounded pretty bad and she couldn't suppress a chill from tingling her spine.

"Bloom!" Vanessa exclaimed as she and Mike ran into the house. Valtor thankfully stood on his own once more and allowed Bloom to be engulfed in a hug by both her parents.

"You okay, kiddo?" Mike asked, pulling back with a worried frown and Bloom nodded with a smile.

"Just peachy, Dad. Don't worry about me."

"Those men," Vanessa began, addressing Valtor with a frown. "Who were they and what did they want?"

Bloom and Mike turned to Valtor as well, sharing in Vanessa'a curiosity.

Valtor leaned his weary body against the wall and glanced at all three members of the Peters family before finally answering with, "Bloom, do you recall when I told you that you possessed the Dragon Fire?"

Bloom pulled out of Mike's loosening embrace and nodded. "Uh-huh. You said it was the strongest power in the Magic Dimension or something, right?"

"Indeed. You see, I too possess this power," Valtor said. "It is different from yours...but it is the Dragon Fire none of the less, and by extension it is no less powerful. Because of this it is a highly sought after treasure; power hungry witches, wizards, dark lords, and even some heroes and fairies would clamour to tear anyone to shreds to get their hands on it, and it is _that_ greed that brought these men here tonight."

"They wanted your Dragon Fire," Bloom said and when Valtor nodded in confirmation she frowned worriedly. "Does...anybody know that _I_ have it?"

"Those men didn't target you until you aided me, so I doubt it. But with your powers reawakening..."

Bloom looked down at her hands, feeling apprehension twisting its way into her heart. Suddenly this dream felt more like a nightmare.

"What...what do I do?" Bloom asked beseechingly, looking up at Valtor with worry dancing in her eyes.

"Is there a place we can go so they can't find us?" Mike asked worriedly.

Valtor chuckled darkly and crossed his arms. "Believe me, if someone from the Magic Dimension wants to find something, it won't take too long to do so; you can move around all you like but the problem won't disappear."

His icy blue eyes locked with Bloom's cerulean ones. "But your daughter, with the right tutelage certainly can."

Bloom stepped forward and hesitantly asked, "What...what do you mean?"

"Well, if you so please I will be at your service when it comes to your magical education," Valtor said with a smile. "Take it as a thank you for saving my life twice over."

Hope pushed back the apprehension in Bloom's heart and she began to smile, her parents exchanging curious glances.

"All right...but how would that work exactly?" Mike asked. "Is this going to be a scheduled reoccurrence at our house or...?"

"No, no, I wouldn't want to subject your house to any more damage," Valtor said, and as if to prove his point, the ceiling fan fell with a heavy thud and an explosion of plaster.

Mike winced as Vanessa asked, "Then what do you have in mind?"

"I can give her a tour of the Magic Dimension," Valtor said. "It would give her some much needed magical exposure as I go about my business, and it would allow me the time to get her to the level of fairies her age—perhaps even beyond that."

"So like...a magical expedition?" Bloom asked excitedly. "That sounds super fun! Where would we go first—?"

"Hold the phone! Vanessa, are we really going to let our little girl run off with some man she just met?" Mike demanded incredulously.

"Dad, I _need_ to learn how to fight! And if Valtor's willing to teach me then I think I should go with him."

"Besides," Vanessa said, placing a hand on Mike's shoulder. "You heard him. If the wrong sorts of people find out about Bloom's powers..."

Mike sighed heavily, frowning between Bloom and Valtor, Bloom giving him the most Good Girl look she could muster. _Yeah_ this was kind of out of the blue but...learning how to use magic while visiting faraway fantasy worlds? Bloom didn't think she'd wanted anything more in her entire life!

"I'll give you until tomorrow morning to decide," Valtor cut in. "In the meanwhile, I suggest you get some rest—it's been a long night for you, yes?"

It was only then that Bloom realized how tired she was. Her eyelids gained a sandy weight to them and weariness weighed on her bones and muscles. "Yeah." Bloom yawned in her palm. "I guess I _am_ super tired."

"As I predicted," Valtor said. He finally pushed himself off the wall and stumbled slightly towards the door.

"Do you need help?" Vanessa asked and Valtor shook his head.

"My magic will fix the wound in no time, don't fret," as he said this, he waved his hand. The seemingly simple action caused the plaster to rise into the air, re-merging with the ceiling and walls while every torn piece of furniture and shattered ornament became whole once more and found their way back to their original places. He gave Bloom a smile over his shoulder as he said, "Magic can fix anything—decide to join me and I will show you how it's done."

That line sent a rush of excitement into Bloom's system as she looked down at her hands once more, anticipating all the things she'd be able to do with her magic.

* * *

Those bastard Prison Enforcers were more competent than Valtor had given them credit for; not an hour of freedom and they managed to pin him down.

Sighing, the wizard stretched his leg out across the cold concrete of the apartment building he sat on while resting his weary head atop the knee of the other, wind billowing through his hair and coat, midnight sky twinkling above him.

It would seem he'd need to steal mind spells and wipe the remaining enforcer's memories as soon as possible before more figured out his disappearance—and to do that he needed to regain his strength from Solaria most likely, and to do _that_ would throw away the realm's balance and surely blow away his cover.

Had it not been for finding the heir of Sparx he wouldn't care for the world to know he was back...but he had known the girl for a half-hour tops and he was already certain she would never trust someone she knew was a criminal.

She _would_ trust a benevolent mentor figure however, a charming friend, a dashing savior showing the truth of who she was and what she could do. They would fight to the death one day, he was certain of it, and so Valtor was going to make it as enjoyable and monumental as possible.

Valtor smirked to himself as he looked up at the sky, early dawn coloring the sky a dark indigo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So yeah, Baltor’s still a lying manipulative lil bastard lol.
> 
> Don’t worry though, he’ll eventually get called out for his BS and have a super slow redemption arc to go through before any romance happens!
> 
> Also, despite Baltor’s plans, Alfea will make an entrance next chapter, along with the Trix and the other Winx girls!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Fantasy Fan OUT!


	3. Reality Check

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: WELP! This took an embarrassingly long time to write, sorry guys!
> 
> Anyway, I've decided to take this story in a slightly different path than I previously intended which I will explain soon, but the first change I made was changing Baltor's name back to his original name-Valtor, because while not nostalgic, I just like the name a lot better.
> 
> This story will also be taking a different path than I initially planned, so this story will be FAR darker than before.
> 
> Finally, enjoy!

"Uh...sir?"

Valtor's eyes fluttered open, and he grunted as the burning sun immediately began searing his irises. Shielding his eyes with the crook of his arm he staggered to his feet, letting out a breath of relief now that the oppressive concrete was no longer bruising his body.

"Sir?" Valtor spared the young janitor a glance before closing his eyes and popping his back. Good Dragon why he thought this was a good place to sleep was _beyond_ him. Never again.

"Sir—"

" _What?"_ Valtor responded irritably, shooting the boy a glare. He squeaked and jumped backwards, fiddling nervously with the broom handle shaking in his hand. "U-um, you're not supposed to be up here? I-I mean here. No question."

Valtor blinked slowly at him before a smirk lazily made its way onto his face. "You're going to do something about that, are you?"

The boy paled, shuffling and fiddling even more with his broom. "N—I mean my boss won't be too happy about people sleeping up here? So…"

"And your boss?" Valtor pressed, tilting his head to the side in false curious innocence. "What can _he_ do about me?"

"I-I-don't—look, man can you just...go?" The boy practically pleaded. "I _really_ need this job."

Satisfied, Valtor stepped back with an amused chuckle and began rolling his shoulder. "Don't you worry, I'll be gone in a moment."

The boy sighed and began glumly sweeping as Valtor contemplated his next move. It was morning, meaning that Bloom's parents owed him a verdict. Whether the answer he desired would be given naturally or through extra subtle persuasion was irrelevant for one way or another he'd get a "yes", especially seeing as how kidnapping would start their relationship on an abysmal foot.

And then there was the dimension he'd take her to first. Solaria was his goal, but going there to steal its second sun in his current condition and with Bloom untrained was basically suicidal. Besides, it would be fairly difficult to explain why he was breaking into places without tipping her off to the " _terrorist"_ part of his infamy.

So his second next goal was to get Bloom to trust him. Trust him so surely and completely that anything he did would have little question or debate attached, and to do that he was going to treat her like the princess she was.

"Wallet," Valtor said, holding out his hand without even looking at the young janitor.

"Uh...what?"

"I need your wallet."

He heard the boy seize his sweeping and ask, "...why?"

Valtor rolled his eyes and turned to the little fool who was giving him a wide eyed deer caught in headlights look. "Isn't it obvious? I need your money. You humans keep it there too, yes?"

"I—sir, are you robbing me?" The boy spluttered.

"Yes. Now give me your wallet so I can be on my way."

The boy dropped the broom and it clattered to the concrete as he began to back up. "No! No, you can't have my—!"

Valtor closed his awaiting palm and crooked a finger in beckoning. Immediately the boy was surrounded in a dark blue outline and sent telekinetically flying towards the wizard with a scream of horror.

Catching him by the front of the shirt, Valtor plucked the dull leather from the boy's front pocket and gave the terrified janitor another smirk. "Thank you for your cooperation," he said before dropping him unceremoniously onto the hard roof and pushing off the building into the air.

Valtor thumbed open the wallet and appraised its contents as he flew over early morning Gardenia. He wasn't very well versed in Earth currency but there seemed to be a lot of bills; it would convert to a nice amount of money in Magix he felt.

Slamming it closed with a single hand he warped the object into limbo to be used later before sighing and appreciating the morning flight.

The wind blew through Valtor's long hair and coat as he cruised over the waking city, taking in deep breaths of fresh air as he did so. He didn't know if it was the years spent freezing in Omega, the planet's atmosphere or even just the act of flying again itself—but goodness the air felt exhilarating.

In the peak of his euphoria, he remembered doing this action side by side with Griffin—she'd loved the early morning air as well hadn't—

And with that his mood was spoiled.

His easy smile became a tense press of his lips and he subconsciously clenched his fists tightly at his side. Oh how he longed to make her pay, to make _all_ of them pay. Griffin, Salidin, Faragonda…

Bloom's house finally came into view below him and Valtor swiftly reigned in his mounting anger as he gradually lowered his altitude and landed lightly on the sidewalk.

Straightening his wine ruffled clothes and hair, Valtor made his way to the small townhouse. He had just mounted the steps and was prepared to knock when the door was flung open.

"Morning, Valtor!" Bloom exclaimed excitedly. Her fiery hair was in a loose messy bun and she wore pyjamas, but despite looking like she'd just got up from bed her jubilant mood seemed to point to otherwise.

"Good...morning, Bloom," Valtor said, mildly taken aback by her energy. "I must confess, I wasn't expecting you to be so—"

"Awake?" Bloom supplied. "You and me both actually; usually I'm not a morning person _at all_ but after last night it was kind of hard to sleep because I was _so_ pumped about magic being real, and me being fairy and _literally_ being offered an apprenticeship by an _actual_ wizard and also apart of me was scared if I went to sleep I'd wake up and it'd all be a dream but you're here and I saw you flying from my window which means it's not a dream _aaaand_ I'm rambling aren't I? Sorry, it's the coffee, coffee makes me super jittery and that plus all these revelations is just—do you want coffee?"

Valtor blinked his wide eyes slowly at the redhead before him before clearing his throat and regaining his composure. "I don't believe I've tried Earth coffee before, why not?"

Bloom smiled warmly and stepped aside, allowing Valtor entry to her house before she shut the door behind her and leading him towards the kitchen.

"So, question. Is Harry Potter an actual wizard or is he still fictional?" Bloom said as Valtor took a seat and she poured coffee from a heated coffee pot into a pastel blue mug. "Also fairytales, are those actually a part of fairy history? Could I meet Tinkerbelle one day? I've _always_ wanted to meet Tinkerbelle!"

Bloom placed the steaming mug before Valtor and he was just about to respond before she held up her hands and said, "Wait hold on! Let me come back." And with that she darted out the kitchen and up the steps.

Well, her enthusiasm would certainly make things considerably easier. Insistent rambling aside he counted this as a win.

With a self satisfied smile, he took a sip from his mug and immediately gagged at the taste, coughing and spluttering out the bitter liquid. What in the name of—?! Humans drank this? _Willingly?_

"Okay, I'm back!" Bloom called, carrying a pink mug with a crescent print in one hand and the fairy book she'd shown him last night in the other.

She plopped down onto the seat across from him and flipped through the book until she reached a page. "Do fairies have a supreme ruler? Like The Fairy Queen or Fairy King?"

"Not everyone follows them anymore but a select faction; the fey do," Valtor responded, opening the nearby sugar pot and plunking a sugar cube into the coffee. "Painfully backwards, don't subscribe to their way of thinking."

"Cool! Okay, next question—"

"Bloom?" Vanessa's voice called.

The duo turned to find Mike and Vanessa trudging down the steps. "What are you doing up, kiddo? It's seven a.m…." Mike's voice trailed off when he and his wife saw Valtor at the table, dropping five more sugar cubes into his coffee.

He raised his cup to Bloom's parents. "Good morning. Sleep well?"

"Oh my G—it wasn't a dream…" Mike said through his hands as he covered his face and groaned.

"Hey, Mom and Dad!" Bloom waved as Valtor tried his coffee again, scowled at the still bitter flavour and dumped the entire bowl of sugar in. "I was just asking Valtor about the Magic Dimension."

"Of course you were," Mike sighed, dragging his hands down his face and slumping his shoulders. "Of _course."_

"Am I to assume you _aren't_ alright with Bloom coming with me?" Valtor asked, trying his coffee one last time before smiling in content at the far sweeter flavour.

Bloom frowned and rested a glum cheek on a propped fist. "I've been trying to convince him and Mom all night. I was hoping they'd come around today but—"

"Bloom, it's not that we don't want you to go, it's just—" Vanessa began but was cut off by her husband. "No. Nope. We actually _don't."_

"I assure you both I will let nothing happen to your daughter during our travels," Valtor said. "In fact, the place we're going to first is completely void of any danger with the exception of petty crime, and with a powerful wizard like me at her side—"

"Hold up, didn't you say you lost most of your powers?" Mike demanded with crossed arms.

Valtor's polite smile froze on his face and his eye twitched as he slowly sipped from his mug once more. "Your point?" he said tightly.

"How do we know you'll be able to keep her safe?" Mike pressed.

"I don't need much magic to send a pickpocket flying, Mike," Valtor said. "Besides, Bloom is a powerful fairy, she'll be able to defend herself on her own soon enough."

"Plus remember those gun guys?" Bloom reminded her parents. "They were after Valtor's Dragon Fire! They'll come for mine too if I'm not trained. And plus, this is probably the best thing that's ever happened to me! A magical expedition? I've been dreaming of that since I was a kid!"

The two shared a worried glance as Bloom stood and clasped her hands pleasingly. "Come on, please? I have nothing to do this summer anyway!"

Vanessa quirked an eyebrow. "What happened to helping me at the shop."

Bloom winced and looked away. "Um…I'll make it up to you?"

Valtor was just contemplating if he had enough magic for a simple suggestion spell when Vanessa said, "Alright, how about this? You promise to call every night and we'll let you go."

"Really?" Bloom and Mike said simultaneously, one in excitement and the other in shock.

"We can't protect her from evil witches and crazy gunman, Mike and we certainly can't instruct her on using her gift—but Valtor can," Vanessa said.

"But—!"

"Yes!" Bloom wrapped both her parents in a giant hug and planted a kiss on both their foreheads. "I'll change and go pack _right now!"_

And with that, the gleeful redhead dashed out of the kitchen and up the stairs once more.

"Now?" Mike repeated in a faraway voice. "Now, now?"

"No time like the present, yes?" Valtor said, drinking the last of his coffee and placing the cup in the sink. "Not to worry, I'll buy her breakfast at a diner. My treat."

"No, I don't care about _breakfast,_ I care about our little girl being safe!" Mike snapped as he stormed in front of Valtor with clenched fists. He narrowed his eyes and stepped backwards from the angry father.

"Mike!" Vanessa exclaimed as Valtor said, "I told you already; I _will_ protect her. I'm the only one who can and you know it."

Mike opened his mouth to argue before clamping his mouth shut and looking away with a glare.

"It'll be alright, Mike. Bloom will be fine," Vanessa said soothingly, placing a hand on his tense shoulder.

"Hey, Valtor?! Do I need winter jackets?!" Bloom called from upstairs.

"That would be my cue to help," Valtor said coolly, patting Mike's shoulder. "I assure you, Bloom is in very good hands. I'll take incredibly good care of her, you have my word."

* * *

Bloom felt as if her heart would shatter her ribcage and dance around the room, her breath was coming out in short puffs and she had to continually rub her sweating palms on her jeans.

This was happening! This was _real!_

"Bathing suit?" Bloom said, spinning around, nearly tripping on the edge of her carpet and quickly righting herself. She presented the blue one piece to Valtor as he squinted at the pages of the Harry Potter book she made him borrow, holding the latex pinched between her fingers.

Valtor looked up and said, "I don't see why not; I plan to take you to Andros eventually."

"Is Andros a beach dimension?" Bloom asked as she plopped on the bed beside him and began folding the bathing suit with excitedly shaking hands.

"An ocean dimension," Valtor corrected, twirling a finger in the air and causing Bloom's bathing suit to self fold and zoom into her open and already partially stuffed suitcase. "It's also home to many talented wizards—it would be nice to cleanse you from this _ridiculous_ Earth interpretation and show you some _proper_ wizardry."

He shut the book and stood as Bloom began forcing her suitcase closed. "So does that mean—" she grunted and slammed her elbow against the case, struggling with the latch. "Does Harry Potter not actually—come. On. _Yes!"_ She sighed in relief as she finally managed to shut the stupid thing.

"The Magic Dimension has endless possibilities—but in this plane of existence, I'm afraid not," Valtor responded, but Bloom wasn't really listening anymore. The final latch seemed to echo around the room, freezing her in both time and place.

This was happening. This was real.

"Bloom?" Valtor's voice cut through the silence, his hand on her shoulder anchoring her back to reality.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry I just…" Bloom stood up, hands sliding off the suitcase. "I guess I now just realized this was _actually_ happening. Like _actually._ I've never left Gardenia before and now I am...but with a practical stranger—no offence."

"I understand," Valtor said, and Bloom turned, seeing a comforting smile on his face—or at least an attempt at one. Like every smile thus far with the exception of his smug smirk, this one didn't quite reach his eyes. "You must be leaving a lot of people behind," he continued, sounding sincere enough.

Bloom smiled sadly and hugged herself as she shook her head. "No, not really; only my parents. I mean there's my ex Andy but we don't really talk that much."

"No friends?" Valtor questioned.

At that question, Bloom found her gaze travelling to her wall, eyes sorting through the drawings of fairies and wizards before finally landing on a particular one.

"Not anymore," she said quietly, blinking back tears as she turned away from the childish drawing of she and Selina. She would've loved this, learning that magic was real, that all their hopes and dreams were real after all.

"We'll get you a proper phone as soon as possible, you'll be able to stay in touch with your parents," Valtor said standing in front of her and blocking her view of Selina. "And as for friends...well," he held out his gloved hand to her before smiling once more. "There's no rule saying a mentor can't also be a dear companion."

Bloom gave him a watery smile and said, "Like Luke and Obi-Wan?"

Valtor's smile froze on his face and he gave Bloom a blank look.

"Oh right you—never mind," Bloom said in embarrassment. "A-anyway, thank you, so, so much for this opportunity," she continued, clasping Valtor's hands with both of hers. "I'm a bit scared yeah but...I know this is going to be the beginning of the best part of my life."

"Again, it's the least I can do after you saved my life yesterday. Now then—" Valtor slipped his hand out of Bloom's and pointed to her suitcase. Bloom watched in awe as it immediately shrunk before plopping into his outstretched hand. "Are we ready?" He finished, handing the mini suitcase to her.

Bloom took the offered object and squeezed it tight in her palm, nodding resolutely. "I'm ready. Just...let me say goodbye first?"

Valtor nodded in acceptance as Bloom turned towards the doorway to say her goodbyes, only to find her parents waiting by the doorway.

"Heading out now, kiddo?" Mike said with a sad smile.

Bloom felt the tears coming back and she desperately tried swallowing them down, looking at the wall to avoid their sad and earnest eyes. "Uh-huh. Yeah."

"Well, I think you'll be needing this," Vanessa said, spurring Bloom to look up and find her mom holding out a first-aid kit.

" _And_ your phone. You have it on you, yeah?" Mike asked. Bloom pulled her flip phone from her back pocket and showed it to her parents. "Here, see?"

"I'm afraid that won't work," Valtor chimed in. "Not to worry, however. We'll upgrade it as soon as—"

"And _you,"_ Mike cut him off, stepping forward and jabbing Valtor in the chest. "If anything happens to her on your watch—"

"As I said, she will be perfectly _safe,"_ Valtor said, punctuating that final word by smacking Mike's finger away as if it were a fly. "Now if you excuse us. Bloom?" Valtor gestured to the bedroom door with his head and Bloom nodded.

"Right. Right okay, I'm ready—oof!" from behind, Mike wrapped Bloom in a tight hug while Vanessa hugged her from in front.

"We love you, Bloom," Vanessa whispered tenderly.

"And don't you ever forget it," Mike added.

Bloom's voice was choked by her bittersweet laughter as she snuggled closer to both. "Guys stop! You're going to make me cry."

"Hold on," Vanessa said in amusement. She squeezed Bloom one more time before finally stepping back, lovingly smoothing her fiery hair.

"Go out there and have a great adventure, kid," Mike smiled, playfully shoving her towards Valtor. Bloom stumbled to her feet with another laugh before smiling back at them one more time, imprinting their images into her mind.

This was happening. This was real. And she was going to make the most of it.

With a final wave she clamored down the steps to meet Valtor at the front door.

* * *

"I believe we should start our journey in Magix," Valtor told Bloom as she locked the door of her house before meeting him at the bottom of the porch stairs. "It's similar to an Earth city so it will be easy for you to adapt to its culture."

"Okay, cool. How do we get there?" Bloom said, attempting to flash the eager smile she'd possessed earlier this morning and failing.

"Your parents will be _fine,_ Bloom," Valtor said, hopefully succeeding in lacing his voice with kindness and understanding as he gave her shoulder a supportive squeeze. "Tell you what, do you know what I do when I'm feeling under the weather?"

He offered his elbow to Bloom who frowned in confusion. "You...link arms with people?"

"Not quite," Valtor chuckled. "There's an extra added step to the routine."

Valtor watched the curiosity spark in Bloom's eyes as she stepped forward and linked her arm with his.

"Now, hold on tight, yes?"

"Wait...what are—"

A moment later and Valtor pushed off the ground and into the air, Bloom in tow. The redhead let out a surprised shriek and squeezed his collar with her free hand.

"Not afraid of heights, are you?" Valtor said amusedly over the roaring wind as he gave her a sideways glance. Her eyes were wide as they darted from building top to building top.

"Huh? No, I just...I was just surprised and currently just a little scared that you'll drop me…" she said nervously.

Valtor chuckled and looked forward once more. "Trust me, I won't."

"Right," she said with a deep breath. "Right, you know what you're doing—you've done this probably a million times, right?"

"Flying? Of course."

"I was talking about flying with a passenger," Bloom corrected. "I mean you called this a _routine_ , meaning you—"

"I understand the English language, Bloom, _thank you,"_ He said sharper than he intended to. It however had the wanted effect, silencing her immediately with the exception of a mumbled, "Sorry."

There was an awkward beat of silence after that before Bloom asked, "Sooo where are we going?"

Grateful for the subject change, Valtor responded, "We're going back to the park you found me in, that was the last place I opened a Dimensional Portal and the residue magic should greatly aid in putting a lesser strain on me.

"I thought the last portal you made was at my house," Bloom said, blowing a wind dancing bang from her eyes.

"Limbo isn't a dimension, it's a pocket of dark matter between space and time—convenient for hiding things or letting unfortunate souls wither away in its darkness," Valtor explained.

Bloom furrowed her brow "So those men you sent there—"

"Presumably had a soul and are thus dead—unless somebody reached them in time which I doubt," Valtor said simply.

"Oh," Bloom said, clearly disturbed if the returning frown on her face was any indication.

"Let's move on to lighter topics," Valtor said as the buildings began to thin and make way for small business and denser vegetation. "What would you like for breakfast?"

That seemed to do the trick, as Bloom's face lit up immediately. "I _was_ kinda feeling for pancakes. Is there any in Magix?"

"Please. Where do you think humans got it from?" Valtor said as he finally located the familiar clearing from the night prior.

"Whoa. That's a lot of destruction," Bloom commented as the two began to lower slowly to the ground. Surrounding the clearing were scorch marks, jagged stumps and fallen trees. Shaken leaves scattered the ground and crunched beneath their shoes as they landed.

"Indeed. And this is only scratching the surface of your full potential," Valtor said as he stepped back and held out his hand. The wind picked up and scattered the leaves elsewhere as a hole through space sliced through the air and opened up like a pitch dark yawning maw.

He turned to Bloom and held out his hand. "Are you ready?"

Bloom smiled and nodded firmly. "Yup," she said, taking his hand and letting her lead him into the darkness.

* * *

Stepping through the portal felt like stepping into a wing tunnel. Cold eldritch wind blasted through Bloom's hair and clothes, forcing her to shut her eyes at the impact before it abruptly stopped.

Slowly opening her eyes, she found herself standing in an alleyway, Valtor by her side.

She stepped out of the dark alleyway and onto the sidewalk, gasping as she took in the sights before her.

A woman walked past with a (mini fairy? Sprite?) fluttering beside her. On the road a hovering car stopped by a parking lot before its driver brought his hand out of the window to snap his fingers, magically creating a new space for him to park. And on the other side of the street, a boy sat constructing a mini orchestra with floating self playing instruments as pedestrians gave him tips.

Looking up she saw a train running on nothing but seeming gravity and people flying—fairies.

"Welcome to Magix," Valtor said, regaining Bloom's attention, he gestured towards the bustling city with a dramatic sweep of his arm and offered a smile. "And to the beginning of the new you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Next chapter's when the action starts friends! Hang tight and I promise the next update won't take months this time!  
> I also have a Patreon account, "Fantasy's Writing Shop" so if you want to show some support and get earlier chapters, that's the place to go!
> 
> Fantasy Fan OUT!


	4. Girl Meets Magical World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Good day my lovely readers and welcome to another chapter of Brittany Spear's "Toxic!" *Violin plays*
> 
> This took quite awhile but I hope it was worth the wait! I'm excited to show you what I have; so without further ado...here we go!

Bloom and Selina had dreamed about magic cities all their lives, but the pictures in their head had been of majestic dragons and quaint taverns, pointed hats and horse drawn carts.

But Magix? Magix was the absolute and complete opposite of that idea with its sky trams and apartment buildings, floating cars and not a single pointed hat in sight.

"Well? Fascinating isn't?"

Bloom blinked out of her sight seeing and frowned in confusion at the familiar voice.

Looking to her side she saw Andy staring at the city with a somewhat nostalgic look on his face. "It could use a bit more—"

"Andy?!" Bloom spluttered in shock. "What are you—how are you—are you—?!"

"Hmm? Oh, apologies, I forgot to warn you," "Andy" said, turning away from the city to look at her. His brown eyes flashed ice blue as he said, "It's only me." This time with Valtor's voice.

"O-oh!" Bloom flushed and looked away. "Um...why are you..." she gestured lamely at his figure, still looking away.

"I saw the boy's picture in your room and decided to use him as a disguise," Valtor said, holding up Andy's hand and looking at it appraisingly. "An Earth boy is far more unnoticeable in Magix than any other person I can take the shape of—and I'm sure you'd prefer to be around a familiar face than a stranger, yes? Although I wasn't aware he was the ex you were referring to before—would you like me to change?"

Bloom nodded eagerly. "Yes, please?" She said with an apologetic wince/smile.

Valtor hummed an affirmative and transforming into Mike. "Better? Not the dashing first impression I wanted to give but..."

Bloom sighed in relief pressing a hand on her blessedly slowing heart. "Yeah, thank—hey! Are you insulting my Dad's looks?"

"Bloom, would you describe your father's looks as 'dashing'?" Valtor asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Bloom blinked slowly, trying desperately to imagine her dad in a magazine cover or wooing a woman that wasn't her mom. "...so what's with the disguise anyway? Afraid of crazy fans?"

"Tastefully changing the subject I see," Valtor smirked—an expression that looked incredibly wrong on her dad's face—before gesturing with his head for Bloom to follow. As they walked down the sidewalk together he said, "But I'm afraid it's a far worse reason. Remember those men from last night?"

Bloom glanced around nervously, eyes scanning every person for guns and goggles. "You think they'll come back?"

"I don't think, I _know_. That is why I must hurry in regaining my abilities and training you so as to properly defend ourselves," Valtor said.

Bloom nodded resolutely. "Okay. Where to first then? Is there a Diagon Alley kind of place here?"

Valtor turned to her with a furrowed brow of confusion. "I'm afraid you'll need to stop with these Earth phrases. I don't understand them."

"Right, duh!" Bloom said awkwardly as she hit her forehead with the back of her hand. "I was basically saying...y'know a place where they sell wands and potion ingredients and stuff." She glanced around her once more, taking in the hovering cars, giant buildings and fancy malls. "Although...somehow I doubt there's a place like this here. There's not even dragons or unicorns anywhere!"

"Now why would dragons be allowed to roam a city?" Valtor questioned. "And unicorns are incredibly rare; you won't see too many of them around, especially not in Magix."

"No unicorns?" Bloom said in mild disappointment. Valtor seemed about to answer when the shop door beside them swung open sharply and caused her to jump and yelp in surprise.

"Did I hear you say _unicorn_ miss?" The grinning shop keeper said. "Just your luck we make our glasses from all sorts of unicorn products—unicorn hair, unicorn lashes, even unicorn horns!"

Bloom gasped, eyes widening with each promise of unicorn items and hands clasped excitedly. Glasses made out of _unicorn hair?_ Get. Out. "You're not kidding! Can I see?"

"Sure can!" The man said cheerfully as he stopped back into the store.

Before Bloom could follow, Valtor had grabbed her arm and tugged her back. She turned over her shoulder to give him an indignant scowl. "Hey! What gives?"

Valtor frowned, opening his mouth to say something when he hesitated and clamped it shut again. He glanced between her and the shop thoughtfully before letting her go with an easy smile. "Nothing," he said simply. "I just don't want you to be running off on your own is all. I'm supposed to protect you, remember?"

"Right! Sorry, I just got a little excited," Bloom said sheepishly before the two entered (her first magic shop!) together.

The red-head eyed everything with unbridled awe. Everywhere she turned there were glasses shimmering with otherworldly materials—glasses with cupid wing frames that swooped and dove through the air, glasses that she had to squint to look at because they shone like mini stars and glasses with kaleidoscope glass.

In her awed bought of sight seeing, she bumped into a large mass of flesh.

"Oops!" Bloom said, spinning around with an apologetic smile. "Sor…" Her voice trailed off as the yellow wall of flesh turned to reveal a creature blinking down at her through a pair of red eyes covered in frilled glasses—the most ordinary looking out of all she'd seen so far. "...ry?" she finished awkwardly, taking a quick step back. He looked like some sort of troll—and if her fantasy research taught her anything it was that they were trouble.

"An ogre," Valtor unknowingly corrected in a low voice as he stood beside her and the ogre turned away to squint at himself in a tiny mirror. "Don't worry—they haven't any magic and don't make up for it in intelligence either. And he wouldn't be here if he was physically violent; you're safe."

Bloom sighed. "Well that's a relief," she muttered.

"Here you go, miss!" The shop owner chirped from behind them both, and Bloom turned to find him holding out a case filled with a row of opalescent glasses in different shapes and sizes. Bloom gasped in awe as she picked up a pair of sunglasses, the temples swirled like a unicorn horn and the glass within the frames fractured like a diamond glittering beautifully.

"Oh, _wow,"_ Bloom gushed.

"Would you like it?" Valtor questioned and Bloom turned to him with a hopeful grin—one that became a cry of surprise as the store shook violently and she stumbled on her feet.

The yellow ogre barreled out of the shop, shoving passed pedestrians as he charged like a raging bull.

"Hey!" The shopkeeper exclaimed, slamming the case shut, placing it on the counter and running out the shop. "Thief! Somebody stop him!"

"You see? He lost a store he could freely shop in all for a hideous pair of glasses— _very_ dumb creat—what do you think you're doing?" Valtor demanded as Bloom placed the glasses down and ran towards the door.

"Stopping the thief! Duh!" She was about to step onto the sidewalk when her foot froze in midair. Her heart leaped in panic as that same force dragged her back like an invisible lasso reeling her in through the air. She crashed against Valtor's chest with a grunt and he gripped her shoulders tightly.

"Ogres are lowly creatures, yes. But they're formidable for someone untrained like you," he said firmly.

Bloom looked up at him with a furrowed brow. "But—"

"Let's just leave and pretend this never happened," he advised, removing one hand and sliding the other on her shoulder to her back, leading her out of the shop and back onto the sidewalk.

Bloom couldn't help but feel guilty for not helping that man; he seemed really nice and seeing someone in peril and not being a bystander was the worst—even if Valtor _was_ right and she couldn't really fight, at least she would've _tried._

"We're not _vigilantes,_ Bloom," Valtor said, no doubt seeing the look on her face. "Besides, we have far more important matters to attend to than chasing down ogre thieves. Like breakfast if you recall?"

"I mean I'm not _that_ hungry. Besides, what's the point of magic if you don't use it to help people?" Bloom pressed.

Valtor shook his head and clicked the button at the side of a traffic light pole to activate the walk sign. "Your magic is _your_ gift and you aren't obligated to use it for anyone else but yourself."

"I wasn't obligated to save you last night but I did anyway because it was right. And _you_ aren't obligated to train me but you're doing it anyway because you're grateful," Bloom pointed out as the cars stopped to let them and the other pedestrians walk across the street.

Valtor's lips twitched upwards momentarily, before stating, "True, but your statement that magic should always be used for others is still flawed—one should always have free will when it comes to their possessions."

"I...guess I see your point," Bloom said thoughtfully. Besides, the ogre was probably long gone anyway. "But _I_ want to help people so we're going to do something the next time we see a thief or something, right?"

Valtore looked down at her for a few moments, an unreadable expression on his face before he gave that smirk of his and said, "Scout's honor," with a hand over his heart.

Soon, the two made their way to a simple looking diner. "After you," Valtor said, gesturing towards the door with another one of his dramatic arm sweeps. Bloom snorted at the repeated show of old time-y etiquette—another thing that looked weird for her "dad" to be doing—before walking towards the door. Before she could grab the handle however, a hand from her left grabbed it first.

"Hey!" Bloom said indignantly as a girl cut in front of her and threw open the door.

The girl, a blonde with waist length hair, didn't seem to notice Bloom, instead looking to her side to call, "Hurry up, ladies! The breakfast pastries would have just come out the oven so they're the _perfect_ temperature!"

"Wouldn't they warm it up for us if it wasn't?" A girl with two short black pigtails asked as she and three other girls entered through the open doorway.

The blonde batted a hand through the air. "Just baked goods taste _way_ better than 'baked goods that were made five hours ago and had to be rewarmed,' don't you know?" She said as she entered with the other girls.

"You see?" Valtor said from behind Bloom as he walked towards the door. " _That_ is a young lady who knows what she wants. _That_ is drive."

" _That_ was rude," Bloom argued with crossed arms.

"But she's getting places, no?" Valtor with a smirk as he opened the door for Bloom.

Bloom squinted at him suspiciously. "You're not going to slam the door on my back or trip me to prove a point, right?"

Valtor rolled his eyes. "Now what would _that_ prove? Come along now, we have a lot to do today."

Bloom entered the diner after a second of deciding if Valtor was telling the truth or not and was hit with the smell of dough and spices. She took in a deep breath and sighed in delight. " _Wow,_ that smells good!" It wasn't as magically extravagant as the glasses shop—a bit to her disappointment, but you couldn't win them all she guessed.

"If you're already impressed just wait until—" Valtor paused as they made their way to the counter before sighing and rubbing his forehead. "Ah...blast.

"What happened?" Bloom asked with a concerned frown.

"I forgot to convert the money we have," Valtor said irritably. "Well it is what it is. We can quickly—"

"That won't be necessary," The cashier piped up with a smile. "We're free from now till 12 to celebrate the new semester!"

New semester? Like school? In the summer—no wait, never mind that; there was _magic school!_ Oh my...

"How convenient," Valtor smiled. "I'll have a milkshake and my companion here can have pancakes. That's what you wanted, right Bloom?"

"Wha—? Oh! Sorry, yes, please!" Bloom said, shaking her head to rid her mind of the exciting revelation. The cashier nodded and typed in the order before letting them know it would be ready in a moment.

The two had migrated to a two chaired table before Bloom excitedly blurted out, "There's magic schools here?"

"There's magic schools in every dimension," Valtor responded. "And before you ask, _no_ it is nothing like any of your silly little Earth books—they all blatantly lied to you."

Bloom clamped her mouth shut and felt a disappointed frown creep onto her face.

"Besides," Valtor said, as his drink was placed in front of him and Bloom's pancakes were placed before her. She told the waitress a kind thank you as the wizard continued, "Why would you need school?"

"Well...I know I have you to teach me but I'm just a little curious that's all. What do the schools teach in Magix? Are there different kinds?"

"Alfea, Cloud Tower, and Red Fountain. A school for fairies, a school for witches, and a school for untalented pubescent boys respectively," Valtor said, counting the three names on his fingers before taking a brief sip of his drink. "All overrated," he said, taking the chocolate sprinkle shaker from the table's center and shaking a copious amount onto the top of the milkshake. "And all the home to the weakest links in The Magic Dimension—don't even get me _started_ on their pathetic headmasters. They all have so much potential that they thwart in the name of keeping within the _foolish_ boundaries of—"

Bloom frowned, mouth stuffed with pancake and syrupy (and oh _wow_ it tasted soooo good!) as Valtor paused mid tirade and cleared his throat as if just now realizing where he was.

"Sounds personal," Bloom commented, tilting her head to the side and idly swinging her fork like a pendulum. "Do you know these headmasters?"

"You know quite a bit of people when you have my status," Valtor said vaguely as he took another sip from his milkshake and frowned. He took the chocolate sprinkles again and shook even more over his milkshake.

"Whoa! Are you trying to get diabetes?" Bloom balked in horror. She liked sweets as much as the next person but...that was _a lot_ of sugar.

"I don't get sick," Valtor said off-handedly as he took another sip before nodding, clearly pleased with the sugary poisonous concoction he'd just created.

" _Um..._ okay," Bloom said, suddenly feeling her teeth ache at the sight of the melting whipped cream drenched in chocolate and ice-cream—and oh gosh that _poor_ saturated cherry...

She pushed her half finished pancakes away and drummed her fingers on the table awkwardly, turning pointedly away from the sugary mess and towards the window. There was a beat of silence before Valtor asked, "Do you still wish to see a dragon?"

Bloom turned back to him, a smile slowly spreading across her face. "...why?"

* * *

Bloom's...philosophy proved to Valtor that it would be quite a while before he and her could complete a heist together. If dumb creatures stealing a pair or repulsive glasses could work her up so much, then imagine her reaction of him stealing spells, or artifacts—or a blasted _sun_ for Arcadia's sake.

That meant he'd need to spend more time gaining her trust than he'd hoped, which meant longer time without his full abilities, which _also_ meant swallowing his pride to make her happy and more pliant unless he wanted to have that duel to the death earlier than he wanted—and in his current state, he did not.

So here he was, mere miles away from the school facilitated by one of his enemies. Out of his guise which probably unwise being so near enemy territory on three fronts but he _hated_ looking like a bland faced Earthling—consequences be damned.

Bloom gasped in awe as another dragon swooped beneath the trees and blew her fiery hair with its gust. She blew a bang from her eyes and turned to grin at Valtor as it flopped back. "This is _so_ cool!" She gushed. "The Red Fountain boys get to _ride_ these?"

"They have no choice," Valtor said with a shrug from his spot sitting beneath the shade of a particularly large tree in comparison to its companions in the forest. "They possess no magic and thus can't fly on their own."

"Still, _riding a dragon?"_ Bloom said as another swooped low and managed to create such a large gust of wind that she fell with grunt, still beaming excitedly. She continued with, "You gotta admit it's—okay what's wrong?"

"Hmm?" Valtor tore his eyes from the Red Fountain and back to the redhead whose hands were now on her hips. "Nothing."

"Oh, come on. You've been staring daggers at the school since the dragon migration started. I was right, wasn't I?"

Valtor quirked an eyebrow. "About?"

"About your dislike for Red Fountain being personal—all the Magix schools actually," she added in an afterthought. She walked towards him and plopped down next to him. "So? What's the story?"

Valtor looked away from her and closed his eyes, feeling the sun beaming down on him and smiling at the warmth. "What's the story between you and your not-anymore-friend?"

Bloom sighed. "Touché. Sorry."

There was silence then, save for the whooshing caused by dragon wings and the tree rustling they left behind. But it was a nice sort of silence; not the suffocating one that permeated throughout Omega because there was _life_ and ambience.

The silence was ruined when the biggest gust of wind yet caused his eyes to snap open and sent both he and Bloom crashing against the tree with twin cries of surprise. As Valtor rubbed the dust from his eyes and cursed, Bloom let out a whisper-shouted, " _Look!"_ while tugging excitedly at his sleeve.

Valtor had blinked the rest of the dust out of his eyes when he saw it—a dragon had landed in the clearing and was peering at them curiously.

" _Can I pet it?"_ She continued to whisper giddily, eyes sparkling with delight. " _I wanna pet it."_

The dragon sniffed the air, letting out a low groan as Bloom crept forward with her hands out in surrender. Valtor simply stayed back and waited—he could erect a barrier in front of her at a moment's notice so he wasn't entirely worried.

Slowly, she placed a hand on the beast's snout and it licked her fingers with a large forked tongue. Her grin grew ever wider as she scratched under its chin and began babytalking it.

Hmph. Some dragon; he'd never seen one so docile before. Of course there was the possibility that it had sensed their Dragon Fires and felt a kinship—but in his prime Valtor has slain his proverbial brothers, not befriended them, thus he couldn't be fully sure.

"Valtor, you _have_ to take a picture!" Bloom exclaimed as the dragon proceeded to nuzzle her hair and make it messier than it already was. "I can't _believe_ this is happening!"

"I don't have any technology on me," Valtor said. "But if you wish I can make one out of your memories when I've found a spell as such."

Bloom eagerly nodded and was about to turn back to the dragon when the loud roar of multiple engines shattered the serene setting. The dragon jerked upwards and shrieked before leaping back into the air, causing Bloom to be blown onto the grass once more. Seconds later, the engine sounds were followed by loud boyish whooping that then made way to swift blurs of red, blue and white.

Bloom cried out as she rolled out of the way of four speeding hover bikes and quickly staggered to her feet. "What was _that?"_

"Hover bikes and Red Fountain boys," Valtor grumbled. "Ah well, it was fun while it—behind—!"

A hover bike slammed into Bloom and she and its rider when crashing into the undergrowth. The hoverbike went spiralling out of control and crashed into a nearby tree, splintering the wood.

"...you. Good Magix," Valtor sighed and trudged forward, pushing through the bushes and low hanging branches as he morphed back into his human disguise.

He found Bloom laying in a bush, groaning and blinking dazedly as she rubbed her head but otherwise appearing unharmed. The Red Fountain boy tore his helmet off in a panic, blue eyes wide and blonde hair spilling out of the tight contraption before he tossed it aside and dashed towards Bloom.

"Oh dragons and stars above I'm so sorry!" He exclaimed dramatically, slowly easing Bloom to her feet. "Are you okay?! I-I didn't see you! I was going so fast and—!"

Bloom pulled out of his grasp and batted a hand through the air. "I'm fine! Don't worry, the bush broke my fall," she said good naturedly before touching her bare stomach and wincing. "But I have super bad bruise now. Ow."

" _Oooh_ man I—!" The boy caught sight of Valtor and began spluttering even more. "S-sir I am _so_ sorry for hitting your daughter—"

"She's not my daughter," Valtor stated irritably. Goodness he needed a new disguise—preferably one that _didn't_ give off father like energy.

Ignoring is continued apologies—although he found them quite entertaining—Valtor placed a hand on Bloom's shoulder and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Like I said, _totally_ peachy!" Bloom grinned, even though she was clutching her stomach and doubling over.

"I-I'll take you to Red Fountain! We have some good healers there—"

" _No,"_ Valtor said shaper than he intended to as he levelled the boy with a glare, appreciating the way he shrunk in fear nevertheless. He places a hand on the large bruise and sent magic from his palm into the wounded veins.

Bloom sighed in relief and straightened as the purple and red Mark faded before turning back to the boy with a smile. "See? All good."

"Still...I have to make it up to you somehow, I almost got you killed!" The boy said.

"It's okay! Really."

"Please, ma'am," he said seriously, firm hand on her shoulder. "I _insist."_

Valtor and Bloom exchanged an odd look at the boys persistence before Bloom turned back to him with an awkward, "Oookay. Uh, how about…"

She tapped a finger on her chin before beaming. "You can teach me how to ride a dragon! You guys do that, right?"

"Oh! Erm...yeah but I'm sorta…" he looked away awkwardly before taking in a deep breath and looking back at Bloom with a smile. "You know what, why not? How about this Friday?"

"Really? Cool!" Bloom said with an excited clasp of her hands. Valtor considered protesting but thought better of it; yes it'd take time away from her training and thus slow down his progress but he needed Bloom _happy._

So if dragon riding lessons is what she wanted, dragon riding lessons was what she'd have.

"For now I can ride you back to Magix on my bike though—I won't go too fast and I won't crash this time, promise!" The boy continued.

"Thanks a lot, I'm Bloom by the way and this is V—I mean Mike!" The fairy said, holding out her hand in greeting as Valtor scowled irritably at the disguised name she chose.

"No problem! And I'm Brandon," the boy said, taking her hand and shaking it firmly. "Specialist at Red Fountain and resident hover bike crasher!"

Bloom laughed slightly at the self deprecating joke and followed him out of the bushes.

"Are you an Alfea girl?" Valtor heard the boy—Brandon ask.

"No, I'm just sightseeing with my friend—I'm new here."

"Well why didn't you say so? I can take you on a tour if you'd like."

"Really? Thanks! You're too nice."

"Well I _did_ hit you with a bike so…"

"You owe me, yeah I get it," Bloom responded with another laugh.

"Even if that wasn't the case…"

Valtor tuned their little meet-cute out to stare back at Red Fountain.

Soon. Soon he'd get his revenge.

He was brought back to reality when the sound of a revving engine. Exiting the bushes, he found Bloom already mounting the bike and being offered an extra helmet.

She was in the midst of putting it on when she paused and cried, "Oh! Va—Mike are you—?"

"Go on, have fun," Valtor said with a smile. "I'll be dealing with my own business, you'll take care of her?" He added turning to Brandon.

"Yup! Don't worry, I'll bring her back in one piece." Moments later they sped off, leaving Valtor alone with his thoughts and the dragons.

* * *

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mom!" Bloom said, leaning against the building she was next to, a brand new phone pressed to her ear.

"Oh, sweetie! Hi! I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon."

"I said I would, didn't I? Yea of little fate," Bloom said teasingly. From the other end Vanessa laughed good naturedly.

"From the tone of your voice I'm assuming your day went well. That's good, your father was half convinced Valtor would let something bad happen to you—well...more than half if I'm being honest."

"He's actually been taking good care of me," Bloom said, glancing at the museum doors where Valtor had disappeared to after purchasing her high tech phone.

She would have loved to go with him and see all the cool magic artifacts but he'd said he had some personal business to attend to and instructed her to wait.

"We had breakfast, saw some dragons and then I made a new friend named Brandon and rode a hover bike through the city. Did you know this place has some seriously awesome tech? Oh, and you know you'd never get the impression just by looking at him but Valtor has a _huge_ sweet tooth."

"Oh, I had a hunch; seeing as how he finished all our sugar this morning," Vanessa said. "Your father wouldn't stop complaining about it."

"Yup, that sounds like him," Bloom said with an amused smile vaguely wondering how her dad would react to learning Valtor had been using his image and likeness all day. Her smile quickly faded however, when she saw a familiar hulking figure on the other side of the street.

_The glasses thief._

"Speaking of your father, you should talk with him; he's been worried sick—"

"A-actually, Mom. I have to go now," Bloom said, already making her way across the street after checking to see if any cars were coming. "Give Dad a kiss for me, yeah? Okay, 'bye!"

"Wait! Bloom what's—?" Bloom hung up and slipped the phone into her pocket as she made it to the otherside, pressing herself against the nearby shop wall as the ogre looked over his shoulder and entered into an alleyway.

"You're not getting away this time," Bloom said under her breath as she creeped closer. _Yes_ Valtor was right in that she couldn't really use her magic yet and she _knew_ he was just looking out for her but this was her chance to return those glasses, and she'd do it Earth Girl style if she had to.

Once she neared the mouth of the alleyway, she quickly darted behind a trio of odd looking garbage cans. Shifting through the trash nearby, she picked out a sturdy looking wood plank and clutched it like a baseball bat with a firm nod. When she peeked over her hiding spot however, she saw the ogre wasn't alone.

There were three young women standing before the creature; they looked older than Bloom but younger than Valtor and carried themselves with an air of confidence and superiority that she could feel all the way from where she was crouched.

One had long brown hair with a purple bodysuit, another had a dark head of curls and a magenta dress, leggings and boots, while the one in the centre had long silver hair pulled into a ponytail and a lengthy cape billowing behind her. All three wore makeup that matched the colour of their attire.

" _Well,_ Knut?" The silver haired woman drawled in an icy voice that made Bloom shudder. The ogre felt it too if the wince he made was any indication.

"Uh—" the ogre began. Bloom gasped and ducked when it looked like he was about to turn before he continued with, "I saw princess Stella!"

" _And?"_ A raspy voice demanded. Bloom wasn't sure if it was the brunette or the curly haired girl from where she was hidden, clutching her wood plank tighter. "What else? We're going to need a bit more than _that."_

"U-uh well I followed her around, just like you said and now she's at the city plaza—oh! And don't worry; she has the ring, I saw it!" the ogre—Knut—stammered out awkwardly. "It's mostly empty right now but she's with some friends so I didn't think it would be a good idea to attack her head on."

The raspy voiced girl snorted. "Coward. Scared of a few pixies?"

"No, no, Stormy, this is a plus," The cold once said. "Knowing this idiot he'd probably muck everything up."

The raspy girl cackled and let out a snort. "Yeah, good point."

Okay, this was _worse_ than being just a glasses thief! That ogre and those three women were going to hurt someone!

But...what did she do? Bloom had been expecting to take a pair of glasses back from _one_ ogre not _four_ bad guys! Maybe she could find and warn this Stella girl? But then she didn't know how she looked like and going around asking random people by the plaza if their name was Stella was a bit weir—

A shadow eclipsed the light from the moon and the overhead streetlights and Bloom tensed. Looking gingerly over her shoulder, she saw the young woman in the purple bodysuit smirking down at her.

" _Boo,"_ She said, holding out her hand towards Bloom. The redhead tried to jump to her feet and defend herself, but before she could even whip out her makeshift weapon violet circles shot out of the girl's hand and slammed against Bloom's chest.

She was sent crashing through the cans and flying into the air with a cry of pain, landing on the hard concrete with a grunt. Bloom's chest ached painfully where the spell had hit dead on and she could feel bruises forming on her back from the harsh concrete. Blinking away the dazed black circles in her eyes, she watched in mounting horror as the three girls circled her like a bunch of sharks (they sure grinned like them anyway).

"Well, well, well!" Ponytail Girl said. "What have we here?"

Bloom staggered to her feet gasping in pain as her chest protested at the motion. She clutched it with one hand and held up the wooden plank she'd salvaged—miraculously still clenched in her hand—brandished in front of her like a sword with the other as she gave the most threatening glare possible.

Curly Girl threw her head back in laughter and Brunette giggled in her gloved palm. Ponytail Girl just smirked broader and snapped her fingers. The plank shuddered in Bloom's hands before ice began creeping up from below like vicious frigid ivy.

" _Ah!"_ Bloom exclaimed in surprise, tossing the board away. It hit the ground and shattered into a million pieces.

Okay, Bloom. So you followed an ogre thief when Valtor _told_ you not to and managed to get tangled up with a trio of scary magic users who had _just_ destroyed your only weapon.

This was fine!

"You—who are you?" Bloom demanded, clenching her fists at her sides and trying to keep her voice from shaking in fear. "What do you want with that girl?"

"Why? You a friend of hers?" Ponytail Girl asked.

"Ooh, _bait,"_ The Brunette purred, golden eyes flashing with malice.

"N-no I'm not—!" Bloom stammered out, taking a step back and hitting the alleyway. Her heart was beating faster in her aching ribs and her body was shaking.

' _Breathe, Bloom,'_ She told herself. She could get out of this, she was a _fairy._

"We're witches from Cloud Tower, dearie," Ponytail Girl said.

" _Senior_ witches," Brunette added.

"You don't wanna mess with us," Curly Girl said. "So if you aren't a friend of Stella's I suggest you scram and mind your own business!"

 _Witches._ Bloom had bumped into witches and they seemed to be the Wicked Witch of the West kind. It was probably best to take their advice and scram but what about that Stella girl? She would feel guilty as hell if she let her get attacked! But her magic—she couldn't—

 _No._ Intent. Valtor said magic was all about _intent._ And her intent right now was to blast these girls into the next century like she did with that snake from the night before.

Inhaling deeply, Bloom rose her shaking hands towards the three witches. "You _don't_ scare me!" she blatantly lied. "I'm a powerful fairy!" She imagined fire shooting from her palms, or a beam of energy sending them flying or better yet another dragon coming out of her chest.

Instead a tiny pinprick of flame poofed from her palm and dissipated.

"Oh my _god,"_ Brunette said with a furrowed brow as Curly Girl burst out laughing again and Ponytail Girl snorted. "I've never seen such weak magic in my _life."_

"Poor thing! Her core is so weak...how about we show her what _real_ magic looks like, sisters?" Ponytail Girl said, causing the other two witches to cackle in agreement.

 _Ooooh_ snap.

Bloom dropped to the floor just as Brunette shot at her with those circles again, the wall where she'd just stood fracturing beneath the spell. She groaned and clutched at her chest again as she stumbled forward and began running towards the alleyway exit—only for the hulking ogre to block it with a ferocious snarl.

Oh no, no, no, nononono…

"Going somewhere?" Curly Girl mocked from behind Bloom as the wind began to pick up. Before she could react, her sandals had left the pavement and she was caught in a tornado of heavy wind, dirt and garbage.

A terrified scream was ripped from Bloom's throat as she was tossed around in the air, the three witches' laughter loud enough to hear even with the wind roaring in her ears.

Bloom couldn't believe this; she'd _just_ discovered this place and now she was going to _die._

* * *

Valtor left the museum with a pleased smile on his face.

That building was practically _brimming_ with fascinating artifacts—that Agador Box was _especially_ interesting. He'd need to plan a date where he could infiltrate it and—

His smile faded when his eyes fell to the side of the building. Where in Magix's name was Bloom?

Promptly, Valtor scanned the area with both his eyes and magic, trying to get either a visual on the troublesome girl or sense her Dragon Fire.

It took but a moment, and not only did she feel her magic but those of three other magic users.

Valtor massaged his temples and sighed heavily. Now _what_ had that girl gotten herself into?

* * *

The tornado finally spit Bloom out, slamming her against a nearby roof and causing the breath to knock out of her. She was so dazed that she almost didn't catch herself as her sore and limp body began sliding down.

Quickly, Bloom rolled onto her stomach and tried clawing at the roof for purchase, only managing to grab a pipe drain before she could plummet to the concrete.

She squeezed her eyes shut and cried out in pain as her sifting ribs sent a sharp pain shooting through her body, causing one hand to release from her desperate hold.

"What're you doing up there, pixie?" Ponytail Girl taunted from below as Bloom's fingers began to cramp and slide. "Get _down!"_ An invisible force pried Bloom away from the drain pipe and tossed her violently to the ground.

Another exclamation of pain escaped her lips as she hit the concrete before being immediately held upwards with telekinesis.

"We should attack fairies more often!" Ponytail Girl said cheerfully as ice crystals began shooting out of her outstretched hand and clinging to Bloom's body like burrs.

Bloom tried struggling against her invisible restraints in order to escape the ice to no avail. The ice began forming a cage that began to encase her and all she could do was squeeze her eyes shut as it got to her trembling chin, letting out a groan of discomfort.

Once the ice enclosed her, Bloom couldn't move a muscle. Her limbs, mouth, eyelids, and every single nerve was pinned in the enclosed space. The only thing moving was her heart and lungs, but she knew in this tight place it'd only be a matter of time before she ran out of air—either that or froze to death, for her body temperature was plummeting rapidly.

"Now then! Where were we?" Bloom heard Ponytail Girl's muffled voice from outside her frigid prison. "Oh right! Getting that ring from—"

She was cut off as the sound of a magic blast echoed through the alleyway. This was followed by a yell of surprise and the two other witches crying, "Icy!"

' _Icy?'_ Bloom's sluggish brain thought. ' _Who names their kid Icy?'_

It was probably a witch thing.

There was the sound of a few more blasts followed by a heavy thud, and more exclamations before Bloom could feel the tiniest pinpricks of warmth breaking through her prison.

The sound of cracking ice was deafening to her ringing ears, but the discomfort was short-lived as her cocoon shattered and she fell forwards with a wet gasp for air.

Before she could collapse weakly to the ground, a pair of strong warm arms wrapped around her stomach and eased her down. "Careful," Valtor murmured. "Are you alright?"

Bloom looked up at him with chattering teeth. He was no longer masquerading as her father and his brows were furrowed in concern.

"Hey! Dweeb!" One of the witches spat before Bloom could answer (not that she could at the moment anyway). It was Curly Girl who was pushing herself to her feet with a pained grunt while glaring daggers at Valtor. "Who do you think you are, huh?!"

Valtor gently leaned Bloom's quaking form against the wall before standing to face her. "You mean to say you _don't_ know who you're dealing with?"

Brunette smirked and narrowed her eyes. "Why don't you come show us, Pretty Boy?"

"I see…" Valtor said, and Bloom was certain she could detect a hint of annoyance in his voice, even as she saw the corner of his mouth tilt upwards menacingly. "Well, since you asked so nicely." He held out both his hands, an orb of blue appearing in each before fired them both in unison.

Curly Girl and Brunette leaped into the air to dodge and the orbs slammed into the wall and cracked it but didn't dissipate, instead they flowed brighter and brighter.

"Ha!" Curly Girl said from where she hovered in the air. "Is that the best you can— _ah!"_ The glowing orbs exploded from behind them and sent them shooting forwards.

Bloom watched as they tumbled through the sky and facepalmed against another building. Even from where she sat she could hear the _crunch_ and crack of bones and brick alike and it made her wince.

Without even turning, Valtor held up his hand and produced a shield, blocking Ponytail— _Icy's_ attack of ice shards from his side.

"Embarrassing," Valtor chuckled, causing Icy to grit her teeth in frustration and dive bomb forwards with a glowing fist. The wizard leaped easily into the air and flicked his wrist, causing blue flames to appear and circle beneath the plummeting witch before slamming into her with a geyser of fire.

Icy cried out before flipping backwards through the air and pushing off a build board, lunging towards Valtor again. "Oh you are _so_ going to regret that!" She snarled, swiping her arm through the air and sending a chilly cloud of frost towards him.

Valtor held his hand out with one hand and the spell froze in mid air. With the other, he sent a powerful jet of flame at it and caused it to evaporate.

He then raised an eyebrow, smirk broadening. "Not with _that_ spell work, I'm afraid."

"You'll be eating your words in a second, you smug bastard!" Icy snapped as she held both hands up in the sky and began chanting.

" _From the depths of primordial space, I summon a box with a frigid embrace…"_

Bloom hugged herself tighter as the temperature dropped, her breath fogging and her fingertips beginning to numb.

Valtor's smirk fell slightly as his eyes fell to her shaking form. Moments later he'd swooped down, and crouched next to her. Bloom didn't even have the energy to let out a noise of surprise as he gently scooped her into his arms and quickly pushed back into the sky just as the spell finished.

The alleyway was completely covered in ice and snow, icicles dangling from every surface and stray flurries spinning through the air. In fact from this high in the sky, Bloom could see that the spell has extended down four blocks.

" _That_ is a spell I need to learn," Valtor said, in a voice that sounded begrudgingly impressed.

"Coward!" Icy barked, shooting higher into the air where Bloom and Valtor were.

"I dodged a spell. That's hardly cowardice," Valtor deadpanned. "From the condition of those two it seems I made the right call." He nodded to where the two other witches who had just recovered were pinned and frozen to the brick they'd been slammed against prior due to the spell—only their heads had been spared and a frozen barrier that failed to protect them hovered in the sky encased in ice.

"What the _hell,_ Icy!" Curly Girl called.

"You could have given us a warning you know," Brunette grumbled.

"I suggest you take your friends and leave before I decide to take proper vengeance in the name of my apprentice," Valtor said coolly. "You won't be able to use any more magic for a while after a spell _that_ powerful...or am I wrong?"

Icy narrowed her eyes, and for a second Bloom thought she was going to attack again. But instead she snapped, "Darcy, Stormy, let's go."

She turned around and flew away, her friends calling after her to wait as they struggled to escape the ice spell they were pinned by.

Ignoring them, Valtor landed once more, boots crunching against ice and snow as he placed Bloom down and knelt before her, placing two hands on either shivering shoulder and squeezing. His hands began to glow and immediately Bloom was filled with unspeakable warmth while the ice and snow around them slowly melted.

She sighed in relief, leaning into the warm touch as her shivers slowly faded away. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"I...forgive me," Valtor said, as the spell spread to her chest. Bloom winced as she felt a sharp pain, but it was quickly replaced with relief, for the aching was no more. "It was foolish of me to leave you alone."

Bloom shook her head. "I'm the one who decided to play hero and chase after that ogre—this is all on me; don't worry."

"Ogre—? _Ah,"_ Valtor looked over his shoulder as the yellow creature groaned from his unconscious state. Valtor blasted him in the head and he crumpled all over again. "That's him is it?"

"Uh-huh, but he was working with those witches to get a ring from some girl named...Stella I think," Bloom said with a frown. "Speaking of, I hope they're not on their way to attack her now."

Valtor shook his head and chuckled. "You nearly froze to death and you're worried about strangers?"

Bloom flushed and shrugged. "Force of habit I— _ah!"_ A bolt of lightning shot from the sky, streaking towards her and Valtor at tremendous speed. Luckily, the wizard was faster, holding up a barrier just before it could connect with them.

"Eh," Curly Girl—the one Bloom presumed was the one named Stormy due to her powers said with a shrug. "Worth a shot." She and her companion then flew off after their leader.

Valtor huffed irritably as he lowered the barrier and stood, holding out a hand for Bloom to take. "I suppose they didn't appreciate you playing the hero all too much?"

Bloom let out an awkward laugh as she squeezed his gloved hand tightly and allowed herself to be hoisted up. "Yeah...you could say that."

* * *

The hotel they chose to stay in was simple and utterly bland with its simple white sheeted beds and equally white walls, furniture, and appliances. But at the moment, there were far more pressing matters on Valtor's mind.

He had appeared before those witches without his guise as a way to strike fear into the hearts, send them running so he wouldn't have to waste precious energy. Instead they had the gall to _challenge him._

It annoyed Valtor more than he cared to admit.

Logically, it was a good thing he hadn't been recognized—he was still too weak for people like Faragonda or Griffen to know he was back—but his pride was seething and indignant because it made no _sense._ He was the one who had personally struck down the royal family of the illustrious Sparx Kingdom for Dragon's sake, and before that he'd laid waist to _countless_ dimensions with the aid of his mothers!

How could every man, woman and child _not_ know of him or his face? How could they not _cower_ at the mere sight of him? _Why—?_

"Hey, it's okay," Bloom cut through his thoughts on the bed next to his, causing him to remember where he was and flick away his internal tirade. "I told you the thing in the alleyway wasn't your fault—I won't tell Dad, promise!" She continued, rolling on her side to give him a kind smile.

Is _that_ what she thought he was worrying about? _Please._ He was glad he'd managed to save his little pet project/bio-battery/future battle-to-the-death partner but if Bloom had ended up freezing to death he wouldn't have lost sleep over it.

Still, he returned the smile with as much sincerity as he could muster before telling her, "I promise that your continued stay in The Magical Dimension will be far less—traumatic."

"Being frozen alive _sounds_ traumatic but it isn't all that bad," Bloom assured him.

Valtor fought the urge to scoff. Either she simply hadn't been frozen long enough to realize that ice was _hell_ or she was a liar—or a fool. Probably all of the above.

"Besides," she continued, rolling onto her back and smiling at the ceiling. "I got to see a cool magic shop, saw a dragon, and made a new friend."

This time Valtor _did_ scoff. "Who? Bad Bang Boy?"

Bloom burst out laughing and turned back to him with an amused grin. "They're not _that_ bad."

"They look like dangling noodles," Valtor argued.

"I was thinking more on the lines of the McDonald's logo," Bloom said.

Valtor blinked slowly at her. "...who?"

Her grin faded and she flushed, returning to the position on her back. " _Right,_ you don't—I'm... going to sleep. Night."

"Sleep well," Valtor responded, hitting the lightswitch with a tiny blast from his finger and plunging the room into darkness. "Tomorrow we begin your training—I can't have my protégé being beaten down in alleyways after all."

"Can't wait," Bloom said with a tired yawn before silence reigned with the exception of crickets and the beating fan.

It took five minutes for Valtor to hear the soft breaths of sleep sound from her, and a grand total of fifty for him too to finally drift off.

He rather wished he hadn't.

" _Well!"_ An all too familiar voice crooned. "Welcome back to the living, dearie!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I didn't feel like writing Bloom's tour with "Brandon", sorry! But you guys didn't care anyway, right? Right.
> 
> Next chapter will be the beginning of Bloom's training and a few interesting bit of dreams from both her and Valtor, hopefully it won't take too long to post but you never know with me lol
> 
> Fantasy Fan OUT!


	5. Trouble Comes in Threes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Ello friends! I'm alive and Happy Bloom's Birthday! *throws confetti*.
> 
> As an apology for being late to both you and the readers of my other stories, I've decided to publish four chapters in a row as an apology Christmas gift! This week, it's "Twin Flames!"
> 
> Since I'll be mass producing these, I won't be responding to reviews right away, but I WILL eventually; hang tight!
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Within the unyielding darkness of his mind, three agonizingly familiar apparitions circled Valtor. They were all wrinkled, hunched, and ancient while sporting wicked smirks and absurd hairstyles. He'd known this was inevitable—he'd just hoped that fate would have the courtesy to prolong this meeting until he was fully, truly ready. But alas, fate always _did_ seem to have it out for him.

"How lovely to see you again, Valtor!" one of the floating apparitions before him—Belladonna— crooned, reaching a gnarled finger forward to pinch his cheek in a mockery of affection that he jerked away from with a scowl.

"What do you want?" He demanded coldly.

Belladonna frowned as Tharma sneered, "Seventeen years in Omega certainly hasn't chilled your insolence! I've told you a million times and I will tell you again, Bella—rearing a child was the worst decision we've ever made!"

"A grown man but still a brat," Liliss drawled disdainfully.

"Silence, both of you!" Belladonna snapped, glaring at both her sisters individually before clasping her hands and turning back to Valtor with a syrupy smile. "I will admit I do agree with Tharma to some extent; I wasn't expecting such venom from you after not hearing our voices for so long, Valtor."

Valtor scoffed and said, "Did it ever occur to you that the venom comes from _precisely_ the fact that I'm hearing from you?" But realized his error the second Tharma snarled and lit her hands with crackling violet electricity.

"Tharma," Belladonna warned as Valtor involuntarily tensed. The storm witch sniffed and let her magic die in her palms.

Belladonna addressed Valtor again as she asked, "Back to the point at hand. What makes you assume we want anything? As I said previously we haven't spoken in nearly two decades."

Valtor rolled his eyes and glared into the distant darkness. " _Please,_ I'm many things but a fool is not one of them."

"Are you sure?" Liliss asked sardonically and Tharma cackled until Belladonna shot her another warning glare.

"And the answer is _no._ Whatever game you want me to play I won't participate," Valtor continued. "Now, if you would kindly let me get back to my sleep?"

Tharma was glaring at him while Liliss's eyes were narrowed. Belladonna however simply smiled and said, "Of course, dearie. I imagine you haven't had proper rest in years…but do remember…" Valtor grunted in discomfort as she pinched his cheek again but harder this time, and with a large grin showcasing crooked and jagged teeth. "This isn't over."

Valtor jolted awake, eyes snapping open to find the spinning fan of the hotel room above him and the sound of Bloom's soft breathing on the bed next to his.

It would be deluded to believe he could fall back asleep now.

He growled under his breath and rolled off the mattress, bending forwards to replace his boots on his sock clad feet. _Curse_ those harpies. Curse them _and_ their _blasted_ games!

Valtor snacthed his coat from where it had been draped over the nearby sofa chair and opened the glass balcony doors with a simple flick of his wrist. Not stopping his stride, he vaulted the balcony handrails and fell through the air.

The wind slammed desirably against his face and clawed at his hair and clothes before he stopped abruptly in midair and shot upwards into the starry night sky, Magix a brilliant array of different coloured lights and faraway sounds of nightlife. Unfortunately he could hardly enjoy himself with the latest encounters with his mothers in the back of his mind.

Valtor sighed heavily. Typical; they managed to ruin just about _anything_ in his life.

What could they possibly want? And whatever it was, how could he refuse? He could play rebel for a little while but it would fray on his mothers's nerves eventually. No matter what he wanted, his life was and would always be theirs. But how could he get revenge, regain his magic, train Bloom _and_ go on a wild goose chase for…. _bah!_

For once, flying was doing little to relieve his frustrations. He needed something a slight bit more...exciting, less idle. He glanced to the side, watching a heron gliding side by side with him before holding out his palm towards it and blasting it out of the sky.

Valtor sighed despondently once more. Even with the sound of its horrified squawking below and the sight of magical flames consuming its helpless body, he felt no glee—although that _could_ be because he'd just killed something defenseless and beneath him simply out of spite and hadn't needed to challenge himself in the slightest…

But wait a moment; he _did_ have a sparring partner nearly equal to him in magical prowess, did he not? Bloom couldn't be the only one getting something out of this apprenticeship after all. And training her at night would make more sense in keeping a lower profile.

Then again, if those witches from earlier were any indication, that may not even be an issue—and there he was getting annoyed again.

He sighed softly for a third time to himself before stopping and turning back towards the hotel, inhaling and exhaling repeatedly to taper off the worst of his temper; if he dealt with Bloom while he was _too_ frustrated—well. He glanced over his shoulder where a lone singed feather was twirling towards the ground.

As had been reiterated to him tonight, destroying something that couldn't fight back was _painfully_ unsatisfying.

* * *

Bloom woke up to the distant feeling of cool air tickling her skin and giving her goosebumps. She shuddered as her eyes fluttered open, squinting at the curtains billowing in the wind entering from the open balcony doors.

Geez. Getting frozen by that Icy girl had _really_ made her cold sensitive, hadn't it? She'd need to ask Valtor if that was would wear—

She noticed the bed beside her completely empty, moonlight spotlighting a wrinkled bedspread.

Frowning, Bloom sat up and looked around the room before slipping off the bed. When circling his bed, Bloom noticed his boots and coat were gone and then turned back to the balcony.

It didn't take a genius to come to the conclusion that he'd gone for a midnight flight and she wondered what was bothering him. Somehow Bloom had a feeling it had nothing to do with her almost getting killed.

Asking him wouldn't yield any results...so maybe she could wait for him to come back and cheer him up?

"Ooh! Hot chocolate!" Bloom beamed to herself as she padded over to the night table in sock clad feet and picked up the telephone receiver. She'd always been given that by her parents when she was having a rough night.

"Hello, how may I help you?" A cheerful voice asked on the other end.

"Hey! Can you connect me to a café or something? I'd like—"

"No need. I can take your order here and charge it to your hotel bill. Room number?"

Bloom gave the man the hotel number and ordered two mugs of hot chocolate. Not a second later, a tray with two steaming whip cream and sprinkle covered drinks appeared in a flash of glitter on her bed.

"Oh!" Bloom said in surprise as the man asked if she wanted anything else.

"Oh—uh...sugar cookies maybe? Those taste good with—"

A plate of a dozen frosted cookies appeared on the tray. "Done," the man said.

"Okay, thanks a lot!" Bloom said as she hung up and turned to the tray with a smile and a sigh. "I love this place."

She'd just begun to sit cross legged on her bed with a mug and a cookie when a shadow darkened the moon's light.

Turning, Bloom smiled as Valtor landed into the hotel room with a curious frown. "You're awake," he said.

"Because _someone_ left the balcony doors open," Bloom teased as she took a sip. "Anyway, you told me you like flying when you're down so I brought you this to cheer you up." She gestured to the tray and Valtor's eyes widened in surprise.

"You…"

"Mhm! And look, there's tiny sugar packets by the mini fridge so you can sweeten your drink if it's too bland for your taste."

Valtor blinked slowly before raising an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I told you, figured you were in a bad mood."

Valtor's lips twitched into a crooked smirk and he tossed his coat off with a chuckle. "You're going to get yourself killed with that attitude, Bloom."

"Everybody dies, right?" Bloom shrugged as she took a cookie and dipped it into her drink. "Dying while helping someone in need sounds like a pretty nice way to go."

Valtor rolled his eyes and sat on the bed beside her before he picked up his own mug. " _Of course_ you would think that."

"And of course _you_ wouldn't," Bloom playfully shot back. "But if a heroic death sounds so awful to you, how _would_ you like to die?"

Valtor paused at bringing the mug to his lips as he chuckled again. "That's an awfully morbid question."

Bloom winced and laughed awkwardly. "Yeah...yeah I don't know why I asked, sorry."

"No, I'll answer," Valtor said as he snapped his fingers and called two of the sugar packets to him. They tore by themselves and tipped their contents into his hot chocolate as he answered with, "If I were to hypothetically die it would be in a grand blaze of glory—it will never happen however, I intend to live forever."

Bloom hummed in thought as she swirled her drink around before asking, "Is that possible here? To live forever?"

"With enough power and drive _anything_ is possible with magic," Valtor said. "Why? Do you have your sights on immortality?"

Bloom shuddered at the very thought and shook her head. "No way. Having to watch everyone I know and love eventually die while I stay the same? You'd never be able to fall in love or make friends because they'd all leave you eventually one way or another. That sounds like a nightmare...a very _lonely_ nightmare."

"Quite the sentiment," Valtor commented and Bloom flushed.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to diss your lifestyle—or future lifestyle maybe. Are you immortal now or is that just your goal?"

Valtor paused before saying, "I can still be killed but I don't age, no."

Bloom's eyes widened in curiosity as she asked, "So...how old are you now?"

"None of your concern."

"You're a dinosaur, _aren't_ you?" Bloom accused half-jokingly.

Valtor let out an amused breath and finished off his chocolate before taking a cookie. "While you hold disdain for immortality, I assume you don't care to die young either."

Sensing the subject change, Bloom finished her chocolate too and listened, wiping away the left behind mustache with her pajama sleeve as he continued. "I've decided tonight we could begin your training," he said, standing from the bed as Bloom gasped excitedly.

* * *

Flying arm and arm with Bloom again, Valtor located an older part of Magix where there would be several abandoned and decrepit sites that would suit their purpose.

The one he found was a dingy domed underground subway station that he quickly cleaned up decently with a few magic hand waves, appreciating the awestruck look on Bloom's face at such rudimentary actions. The redhead had insisted on keeping the graffiti however, claiming it fit the "training aesthetic" whatever in Arcadia's name _that_ meant.

"Okay!" She said excitedly, as she jumped from one foot to the other completely barefoot. Valtor found that absolutely unsanitary, but he supposed it was more practical than her wedge heels. "I'm ready! What spell are we learning first?"

"We can start with shields. It's one of the spells a fairy can use at its fullest without transforming," Valtor said. "Now, throw something at me."

Bloom nodded and crouched to pick up one of her discarded wedges, winding her arm back before throwing.

Valtor held out his hand and a violet domed barrier shimmered into existence before him, the wedge slammed into it before exploding with a flash of bright light and falling to the ground in a smoking charred heap.

"Shields differ from power type," Valtor explained as Bloom picked up her wedge by its torn strap and mouthed an awed "wow".

"You and I possess the Dragon Fire, so our shields will burn anyone and anything that comes into contact with it. A being with ice based magic would freeze attackers, lightning based would electrocute—so on and so forth."

Bloom nodded slowly in understanding as she placed the shoe down and asked, "Okay, so how do _I_ make a shield? The first time I did it was totally at random."

"Remember what I told you before? Magic is about intent—intent, drive, and power."

"Dip. Got it!"

Valtor frowned. "What?"

"You know, kinda like an acronym. "D" for drive, "I" for intent and "P" for power," Bloom explained.

"Well...if that helps you remember. Now, close your eyes and relax your muscles."

Bloom compiled and Valtor circled her appraisingly before nodding. "Good. Now try creating a barrier."

Bloom opened one eye. "How—?"

"Close your eyes."

Bloom snapped it shut quickly once more before continuing her question. "How do I do that exactly?"

"Remember; intent, drive, power," Valtor said as he stepped back and waited.

Bloom wrinkled her nose and scrunched her eyes, humming in concentration. A moment later, she became outlined in gold, hair slowly floating around her like a flaming halo.

"Yes, that's it," he encouraged as the air shimmered around her.

Seconds later however, the air exploded in a bright flash of flame and Bloom was thrown against the wall with a yell of surprise.

Valtor winced as the girl slid down the wall with a groan. She touched the back of her head and grunted. "Ow."

"Well, you have _part_ of it down," Valtor said, holding out a hand for her to take. "Come, let's try again."

Bloom nodded confidently as she allowed herself to be helped to her feet before stepping back and taking another deep breath.

"Try out stretching your arms this time, perhaps that's why the spell backfired," Valtor added and Bloom nodded, eyes still closed as she followed the instructions.

This time, a translucent orange dome surrounded Bloom. She opened her eyes and blinked up at the dome with a grin. "I did it!"

"We'll see," Valtor responded, holding up his palm and calling a violet fire ball to his palm. "Let's see if it holds—otherwise it is as good as useless." He tossed the ball and Bloom tensed as it sailed towards her.

It tore right through the barrier like it was toilet paper and slammed into Bloom's chest. She sprawled to the floor with a cry of pain and groaned before pushing herself right back up once more and spinning around. "Okay," she said with a nod, rubbing her bruising stomach. "Let's go again."

Valtor nodded and threw another spell. A dome didn't even reappear this time, the spell slammed into Bloom's waiting palm and she stumbled backwards with another cry, blowing heavily on the scalded hand.

"Let me see," Valtor said, trying to hide the irritation he was feeling. This girl was going to help him do absolutely _nothing_ with the rate they were going. He'd seen _toddlers_ get this right!

He rubbed his thumbs against her burn wounds and healed them with every swipe as Bloom sighed. "I'm sorry for being so lame."

"You're new to this, I never expected you to get it well immediately," he lied smoothly as he gave her hand a comforting squeeze and stepped back once more to try again.

Fifty more times, _fifty more times_ they tried the spell and Bloom couldn't get it right _once._

Great Dragon. How ironic was it that the most powerful magic source in the entire universe had made its home to someone so unskilled with magic? Daphne was an obnoxious little brat who deserved the painful death inflicted on her by his mothers but he could begrudgingly admit the girl could spar like there was no tomorrow—Oritel and Marion too if he were being honest, killing them had been a true pleasure for a reason.

The fighting gene seemed to have skipped a child however…

How was he supposed to finish everything on his personal to-do list before his mothers called on him again if she was being so painfully _useless?_

"Okay," Bloom huffed and pushed herself to her knees with a pained grunt and stumbled to her feet for the fifty-first time. "Let's try…" her voice trailed off as she panted for breath before inhaling slowly and continuing. "Again—"

" _No!"_ Valtor barked in an explosion of frustration that caused his magic to flare around him and Bloom to flinch. "How can I—how am I going to— _you—!"_ He swiftly snatched his frustration by the tail and reigned it back in, closing his eyes to calm his racing pulse and the magic sending blue flames across his body.

"I...am sorry," Valtor said, opening his eyes again, only to find the girl looking away in shame, rubbing her arm awkwardly. "I didn't mean to—"

"You're right," Bloom sighed. "I totally suck at this. I'm just wasting your time."

"No, no, Bloom," he said, not wanting to set up walls between them—that wouldn't help anyone now would it? "I'm on a...tight schedule and I simply took that frustration out on you."

Bloom frowned and tilted her head to the side. "A schedule?"

"Of no fault of your own," Valtor assured her. "It's simply...well let's just say I'm in debt. I owe some truly awful people something and I don't know when they'll demand payment."

Bloom's eyes widened. "You're in some wizard mafia?"

Valtor blinked slowly and said, "...yes?" not entirely certain what she was talking about. A _mafia?_ What an odd Earth word. He supposed it meant "cult" however.

Bloom stepped closer to him before stepping off the station platform and sitting on the edge, looking over her shoulder at him and patting the spot next to her for him to sit. Curious, he complied before she said, "I'm sorry. That...sounds rough." She laughed awkwardly and hugged herself. "Kinda sucks that you have to train me, huh?"

"No," Valtor said. "I want to help you, Bloom," ' _Help you help me steal my magic back, that is,'_ "I owe you this much."

"And I owe you too," Bloom insisted. "You're training me even though you're in trouble. That's...very super sweet of you."

Valtor wanted to wrinkle his nose in disgust at the sentiment but he outwardly smiled easily. "You never stop with your kindness, do you?"

"I toss it around like confetti," she said with a wink. "Karma's a two edged sword, y'know? Yeah, if you do bad, bad things happen. But if you do good, good things happen and I want…" her voice trailed off and she frowned sadly pulling her dangling legs up to rest her face on her chin and whisper, "I want…"

Valtor waited for her to continue. Instead she shook her head and turned back to him with a smile. "Anyway. I'm going to help you with this schedule. So if that means training extra hard and helping you browse museum art then I want to do it."

Valtor looked away from her in thought, drumming his fingers against the tiled ground. Well, if she was willing to put in the extra effort for his sake…

"I won't go easy on you," Valtor warned as she stood.

"Don't worry," Bloom smiled as she got up as well. "I don't want you to. Knock me up, coach."

Valtor rose both eyebrows and Bloom's face burned crimson before quickly looking away. "God _damnit,_ Bloom!" she hissed under her breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Very much on the short side, but this is due to me wanting to publish this today while also wasting time writing this chapter out with everything planned before realizing it didn't work and having to quickly rewrite it. Anyway, hopefully this was an entertaining set up regardless!
> 
> Fantasy Fan OUT!


	6. These Wings were Meant to Fly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: The way this story updates so slowly but Valtor and Bloom have still only known each other for a freaking DAY. OMG I need to do better XD
> 
> Apologies for the wait and THANK YOU for the love. This story's been getting a lot of follows and reviews lately and I do think that is all thanks to Fate: The Winx Saga. Still hate the show with every fiber of my being...but hey, there was some good stuff to come out of it I guess! I did also like how they put an emphasis on emotion = power. It was pretty clear in the cartoon too but it wasn't fully plot incorporated like it was in Fate.
> 
> Okay, that's ALL the good things I'm going to say about it forever and ever.
> 
> Anyway, onwards to the story!

Icy hated plenty of things.

She hated lectures, pop music, glitter, "cute" stuff, and that stupid pastel monstrosity named _Alfea_ as well as the stuck up fake goody-goodies that occupied its four walls, but what she hated most of all was being made a fool of.

And that stupid wannabe punk goth eyeshadow wearing _freak_ wizard had done just that.

Icy had worn a perpetual scowl for the rest of that night and the entire day after, _and_ the night after that. That stupid smug smirk was burned into her brain and no matter how much she tried she couldn't stop it from filling her soul with a frigid rage. If she saw him and that useless redheaded pixie again she was going to—!

"Hey! Icy!"

Rudley jolted from her mental tirade, Icy spun sharply around and shot a spell from her palm.

Stormy cried out in surprise as Darcy held up her hand and swiftly produced a violet-colored barrier that caused Icy's icicles to explode into a puff of darkness. From behind the orb, she gave the ice witch an unimpressed glare. "Done attacking us unprovoked?"

"Oh. It's you two," Icy sniffed by way of an apology as Darcy dropped the barrier and Stormy seethed and avoided her gaze with a childish pout and harrumph.

"What in Arcadia's name has been going on with you recently?" Darcy demanded with crossed arms. "You've been bitchier than usual for two nights and a day now."

Stormy rolled her eyes, still glaring at a random wall away from Icy within the witches' shared dorm. "She's still ticked off about that stupid alleyway thing I bet."

"Why shouldn't I be?" Icy demanded through gritted teeth. "We were made a fool of! _Us!"_

"C'est la vie, Icy," Darcy huffed. "It's done now. Can we move on now, please? Obsessing over losing a duel isn't helping us towards our goal."

" _Ugh,"_ Icy sneered as she spun on her heel and stormed towards the balcony doors. She needed some fresh air.

"Icy wait! We have to turn in a proposal for Griffen to…!"

The whooshing of heavy wind and Icy leaping into the air stole the rest of Stormy's sentence. She wouldn't be _too_ long, curfew was in an hour after all but it was more than enough time to clear her head.

Ever since she was fourteen Icy had been pushing herself to the limits of her magical capabilities, she was the best witch in not only her year but the entire school, memorized every ice-based attack spell she could get her eager hands on and had an impeccable school dueling record.

The fact that all of that had been rendered _meaningless_ in less than five minutes by some stupid random _yahoo_ wounded deep. If some wizard in a back alley could make her look like an idiot then how was she going to…?

Icy shook her head to rid it of that thought as she gritted her teeth. Stupid _useless_ doubts! This was all—! The witch gasped suddenly and froze mid-flight before quickly darting behind a tower and peaking gingerly around it.

_Him._

It was unmistakable, that long head of hair and outdated Dracula clothing—it was that alleyway wizard alright. He was simply hovering there naught but a yard away, glaring up at the window Icy knew to be Griffin's office as periodic lightning brightened his form. And then, with a mirthless smile, he turned and woodshed away, becoming smaller and smaller as he distanced himself from Cloud Tower.

Icy watched him, made a split-second decision, and then followed him a safe distance behind.

* * *

"Getting some deja-vu here," was the teasing greeting Valtor got as he returned to the hotel room and shut the balcony doors.

"Are you ready?" He asked without turning around as he shrugged off his coat and tossed it against the nearby sofa chair. He couldn't quite keep the unwarranted bitterness from his voice, not after seeing Griffen for the first time in nearly two decades. Through a dimly lit window, yes, but it still counted.

What had possessed him to do that anyhow?

"Nightly parent call," Bloom said, seemingly nonplussed by the sour demeanor. "They were both kind of worried after I hung up yesterday night. I left out the witch stuff but told them we were training, Mom was super stoked about it—I also told them I'm going to train tonight too."

Valtor humes a response as he smiled to himself and pulled off his gloves. "Perhaps tonight your shield will do more than sit there and look pretty."

He heard Bloom blow a raspberry at him and he responded with a light chuckle—one that stopped abruptly when he felt the barest hint of a magical signature at the very edge of his senses. Frowning, he threw open the balcony doors and scanned the night sky with narrowed eyes. When he found nothing, he stood by the railing and glanced below him, the energy mildly stronger now.

"Valtor?" Bloom called, voice tinged in worry as she padded bare foot onto the balcony as well, hugging herself as the cool night air chilled her.

Valtor turned over his shoulder to tell her to go back inside when the magical energy suddenly disappeared. Frowning, he whipped back to the sky and peered beneath the railing once more, stretching his senses around the hotel's perimeter.

Nothing.

As he turned to reenter the hotel room, neither he nor Bloom noticed the witch swiftly flying away from the hotel's rear with a sinister smirk on her face.

* * *

It turned out that magical cosplay was super fun, and Bloom vowed that once she stopped being trash at magic she was _absolutely_ going to ask Valtor how to shapeshift!

"I need to stop disguising as your father," Valtor had told her when suggesting she find him a new face to disguise as from Earth before going out in case someone saw their midnight flight. "Using his guise is slowly chipping away at my self-esteem."

"You _really_ need to stop jabbing my Dad."

"Apologies, it's simply far too easy."

So now Bloom was putting her brand new cell phone to good use, searching up her favorite Earth celebrities and showing them to Valtor who would then try out the disguise before inevitably complaining that it simply "wasn't him".

"Okay, fair, fair," Bloom said with a giggle as she went back to her phone and typed in a new search. "Arnold Schwarzenegger was a _bit_ left field."

"What kind of name is _Schwarzenegger?"_ Valtor demanded as he morphed out of that disguise like the other previous ones and straightened his vest.

Bloom snorted. "No offense, but _your_ name is Valtor."

"That was a _very_ common name in Sparx, thank you very much. It—" his voice cut off abruptly and Bloom looked up from her phone curiously.

"Sparx? Is...that your home?"

Valtor's muscles tensed, his brows knit, and his fists clenched and unclenched on the fabric of his vest before he hesitantly said, "...yes."

Bloom immediately wanted to ask what it was like, how it differentiated from Magix, who his parents were, or if he could take her there one day on a tour—but she saw his rigid position and the tightening of his jaw; he clearly didn't want to talk about it.

Bloom's curious smile became sympathetic. "Bad memories?"

He hesitated again, frown deepening as he seemed to struggle with an answer before answering with another simple, "Yes."

Feeling crummy for ruining the lighthearted mood, Bloom deleted what she'd been searching in her search bar (Tom Cruise), before saying, "Hey...why don't...why don't I sketch something for you instead of searching for a face?"

Valtor eagerly snatched onto the new topic, seemingly grateful to move away from this Sparx place as he slipped back into an easy smile and posture. "That would be more prudent—we can't guarantee that some beings here aren't acquainted with Earth pop culture simply because _I'm_ not."

Nodding in agreement, Bloom fished her drawing supplies out of her suitcase and tossed them atop the hotel desk, flipping to the nearest blank page and pulling out a mechanical pencil. Nib poised atop the paper, she turned to Valtor appraisingly before nodding and beginning to work some Earth Magic.

"No peeking!" Bloom said teasingly, pressing her body atop the drawing when Valtor tried to glance at it over her shoulder.

He held up his hands in surrender. "Well then, madam," he said with a teasing smile of his own as he stepped back obediently.

It took only a few minutes of muttering under her breath, erasing, coloring, and checking to see if Valor was looking (he wasn't) before smiling and holding up the drawing. "Okay! All done."

From his spot lounging in the bed, Valtor crooked a finger and summoned the drawing into his own hands, humming in thought as he looked at it.

"I figured you didn't want to look _too_ different from your normal self but at the same time different enough that you wouldn't be recognizable by anyone—"

In a flash of light, Valtor changed once more and stood up, appraising his new form in the floor-length mirror. His hair was still as long as before but now it was a brighter shade of blonde and held in a low ponytail. His eyes had become a vivid spring green and balanced on a now roman shaped nose—

"The glasses are a surprisingly nice touch," Valtor mused as he adjusted the square rims with and smiled at Bloom through the mirror. "I rather like this disguise—thank you."

Bloom beamed at the praise. She may have been a crappy fairy but at least she still had her artistic talent!

"Okay! Now for _my_ transformation," Bloom said as she took some clothes from her suitcase and entered the bathroom. After a minute she kicked the door open and twirled with a flourish and a bow, "Voila!"

Valtor rose an eyebrow. "That outfit hardly constitutes a dramatic entrance," he said mildly sardonically.

"Aw, come on! I'm no fashionista but you have to admit, this is cute for a work-out outfit!" Bloom said standing straight and twisting this way and that before the mirror. The top was a baby blue sports bra and the pants were black biker shorts. Her usual wedges were replaced with converse sneakers and her hair was pulled into a high ponytail with a yellow scrunchie.

All Valtor bothered doing was removing his coat and gloves, but the rest of his outfit stayed intact.

"I suppose," Valtor said flippantly and Bloom wondered if she should feel offended or not—she really _did_ think it was cute...

Very soon, however, her outfit was the least of her worries.

For the third time that night, Bloom was sent sliding across the subway tiles with a cry of pain and a bruising stomach.

Right, note to self; no more stomach exposure during training.

"What are we missing here?" Valtor muttered under his breath. And Bloom had a hunch he was _really_ wondering, _what the hell is wrong with this fairy flunk?_

"Is there something I can use to power up to better?" Bloom asked as she stumbled to her feet with a pained grunt. "A ritual? An environment? A particular feeling?"

Valtor's eyes lit up and he smiled as he lifted his musing chin from his fist and turned back to Bloom. "Emotions."

"Just...in general?" Bloom asked somewhat doubtfully. "I dunno, I've been feeling frustration for two nights now and obviously nothing's happening."

"It's simply not intense enough," Valtor said, a self-satisfied smile growing as he began to pace with the blooming idea (ha! blooming). "Think, three nights ago when you saved me what were you feeling?"

Bloom didn't need to think long before she could answer with an awkward laugh. "Panic. Lots, and lots and just _oodles_ of 'oh God I'm going to die' if you can believe it."

"Oh no, certainly not," Valtor said playing into the joke and causing Bloom to smile. "However...perhaps the emotion was intense enough to…" nodding slowly, Valtor stepped back and lit his palms with orbs of energy. "Again. Think of something you believe will give you an intense reaction."

"Any emotion?" Bloom asked.

"Any emotion," Valtor confirmed. "Brace yourself."

Taking in a deep breath, Bloom imagined her recent discovery of her fairy powers, how excited she was to use them, fly, and go exploring around The Magic Dimension.

Clinging to that warm fuzzy feeling, Bloom held out a hand and created her barrier. This time when Valtor hit it, the spell slammed solidly into the orange dome and caused it to ripple while Bloom felt an immediate strain on her body.

She gritted her teeth and grunted with effort before the barrier shattered and forced Bloom to jump to the side to dodge the blast.

"Good," Valtor said with a nod and smile as his spell crashed against the far wall and dissipated. "Now focus even more and you will get it perfectly."

Nodding in determination, Bloom held out her hand once more and created a barrier. But instead of clinging to fuzzy happiness, she focused on her deep-rooted desire to _get this._

As Valtor's spell went flying, she fed that determination further, imagining the spell working perfectly, imagining her moving on to the next stage of her training, imagining—

Her barrier burned with vivid light as the spell came closer and closer. And as it finally struck Bloom's barrier, it and the dome exploded in a violent _WOOSH_ and cloud of glittering embers.

Valtor, even from a foot away, staggered backward with a grunt as the eldritch wind pushed him back while Bloom's hair and clothes ruffled and her scrunchie snapped. To top it off, beneath Bloom's feet was a circular scorch mark that spammed a wide diameter as she lowered her tingling hand and gasped for shocked breath.

 _Wow,_ what a rush!

"That…" Valtor watched her with wide surprised eyes before clearing his throat and regaining his composure. "That was an unnecessary amount of magic paired with a frivolous light show and overly dramatic finale."

Bloom's cheeks burned and she frowned indignantly, intent on defending herself when Valtor added, "In other words...it was beyond perfect. _This_ is the power of a fairy of the Dragon Fire."

The redhead blinked in surprise at the bait and switch before beaming proudly and flushing with happiness and praise instead of offense.

"I couldn't have done it better myself," Valtor continued with a smile. " _Very_ well done."

The two had practiced the spell a few more times before Bloom was certain she could do it properly without too much effort. And on their way back to the hotel, Valtor had relayed that she would be getting homework—learning about fairy forms.

So alas, that was what an excited Bloom did first thing the next day—watching videos of fairies all over the universe transforming and reading articles about different fairy forms.

"I'm going out," Valtor had announced, using his new disguise as he picked up a notebook by his side of the bed. " _Do_ stay out of trouble."

"No promises," Bloom said half-jokingly as she smiled up at him from her lounging position on her stomach. "Enjoy your outing!"

Valtor gave a nod in farewell before shutting the door behind him and leaving Bloom to scroll through the article detailing different fairy forms. "Ooh! Enchantix looks just like—wait, I have to _die?!"_

* * *

"So, when's this Alfea sabotage supposed to happen?" Icy asked casually from her spot atop her bed, legs crossed over the other at the knee with an omnipresent smile.

"Glad to have you back," Darcy commented from her desk, working on homework while Stormy excitedly explained their plan.

"Those loser Red Fountain boys are going to bring party favors for the Alfea pixies like they do every year, _we_ are going to curse them with something wicked and ruin the entire night!" Stormy cackled, sparks crackling at her fingertips as she grinned wickedly.

"What time?" Icy asked, and while Stormy frowned at the clear lack of interest, Darcy glanced over her shoulder with a suspicious frown.

"Going somewhere?"

"What got you jumping to _that_ conclusion?"

Darcy sniffed and peered down at Icy from above her miniature glasses. "Usually you'd be tossing out ideas, dramatically laughing, fantasizing the looks on our victims' fa—oh no."

Icy's frown deepened. "What?" She demanded.

"You're in a good mood after being humiliated and now you're asking about schedules? You found them, didn't you?"

Stormy blinked twice. "Wait, _seriously?_ Some random pixie and her hot vamp teacher are more important to you than _wrecking Alfea?"_

"I didn't say _that,"_ Icy argued. "I'm just thinking I can finally get rid of this niggling little problem once and for all and we can move smoothly on with our lives."

"With _your_ life you mean?" Stormy sniffed. "Whatever. We're coming with."

Darcy turned to Stormy in confusion. "We are?"

"Uh, _duh._ The sooner we deal with them, the sooner Icy can stop _daydreaming_ about putting them in their place and actually do it. Shouldn't take _too_ long."

"We had our _asses kicked_ last time," Darcy argued. " _And_ we have an assignment! This _will_ take long at best and we'll get humiliated _again_ at worst!"

"I thought you didn't care about our humiliation, Darcy," Icy shot back.

"Of course I do, I'm just not crying over spilled milk like—!"

"So what's the plan?" Stormy cut in with an excited lopsided smirk. "Two booty kicks in one day? That sounds like my type of party."

The two previously arguing witches glanced at Stormy before turning to each other with mirrored smiles of excitement, argument forgotten for the time being.

* * *

Another thing Bloom decided now that she was in this brand new world; magic vlogs were very, _very_ fascinating.

It was so interesting seeing girls her age casually talk about spells, potions, transformations, and wings like it was _nothing._ It was also exciting watching the different ways they used their powers and transformed.

There was one girl who caught Bloom's eye though—DiasproPrincess911 who had a crap ton of Fairyview subscribers _and_ an in-depth playlist on fairy magic (winx, it was apparently called—super cute name) that would be super helpful to Earth raised Bloom.

Illuminating her gaze, an elegant blonde with large ironed curls and a cool red-lipped smirk that reminded her of Valtor sat in a room of glittering pillars and white furs, leg crossed over the other and hands folded on her lap. "Hello my little gems," she said in a controlled and soft-spoken voice. "The other day, I got a DM saying _this,"_ she lifted a hand and pointed to the side where a green-screened comment appeared.

"'Dear Diaspro, you are _such_ an inspiration to me! I just saw your magic showcase vlog and I want to be just as powerful as you. Heart emoji, heart emoji.'" She paused to take a glass from beside her, bringing it to her lips and sipping delicately. Seeing as how the girl looked to be about Bloom's age, she guessed it was some sort of sparkling juice made to look like wine for aesthetic purposes—unless drinking laws were different in the Magic Dimension.

"Now, usually people who refuse to use my proper title get blocked immediately, _but_ this user gave me an idea and I pardoned them! A princess _is_ supposed to share with her subjects, or in this case loyal fans, correct?" She clasped her hands and stood, walking towards the camera. "So, I've decided to start a little series—a How to Magic series if you will! We'll start with the most basic yet fabulous spell of them all, _transformat—!"_

Bloom was distracted from the video as a loud thunderclap shattered her eardrums. She cried out and bolted to her knees, earbuds popping out of her ears and phone toppling to the carpeted ground.

Her head snapped towards the window where ominous clouds were swiftly forming around the sky, wind howling loudly until its sheer power flung the locked balcony doors opened and sent Bloom crashing against the wall. She pulled away a bang covering her face due to the wind pressure, only to get a face full of heavy pouring rain splattering across her face.

"Where did this storm come from?!" Bloom yelled out loud just to nobody in particular as the roof tore straight off and the wind tried pulling her up with it. Bloom cried out, gripping the carpet as tight as she could but it didn't seem to help in the slightest—the fibers tore and she began to be pulled upwards—

Her brain, running on pure adrenaline spurred her to use the new spell she'd learned and Bloom held up two hands, a familiar orb encircling her completely and keeping her out of the tornado's reach. With a yell, she and the orb crashed to the ground and it shattered into glittering embers like last night.

Thankfully, the wind died down abruptly before she could be picked up a second time and Bloom sighed in relief, squinting up through sodden bangs. "What _was_ that—?"

"Actually learned a spell this time, pixie?"

Bloom tensed sharply. She knew that voice, and a quick glance up at the gaping roof confirmed her suspicions.

* * *

He was certainly going to need Bloom's help much sooner than he'd anticipated.

Robbing a museum was out, as were schools, spell banks, secret tombs, not even to mention _palaces_ or severely protected artifacts of particular realms.

Grumbling to himself, Valtor crumpled the list of spells he'd been interested in and set it on fire from within his fist. For now, unfortunately, buying D-grade books and artifacts from stores was going to have to suffice for now.

Speaking of which...he'd need to find a new easy spell for Bloom to learn now that—

The serene park's silence was shattered as a stampede of pedestrians ran away from something screaming. Frowning in both confusion and annoyance, Valtor grabbed a jogging man from the stampede and said, "You. What is going on?"

The man snorted. "Cloud Tower witches again. _Always_ mucking stuff up...regular Tuesday afternoon actually."

Valtor hummed a none response and let the man return to half-heartedly jog away again, gaze returning to the city where a black cloud was swirling over a tall hotel. Well. It wasn't any of _his_ bus— _wait._

Frown deepening, Valtor shot into the air and hovered above the city line, eyes locked on the now destroyed hotel—the _familiar_ now destroyed hotel.

Valtor tilted his head back towards the sky and pressed his palms against his face, groaning in agitation into them. One day. _One day_ of peace and that girl was in harm's way _again._

Sighing heavily, Valtor sped towards the hotel, muttering, "Damn that girl, damn that girl, damn that girl," under his breath repeatedly.

He had decided—the next thing he was teaching Bloom if her useless self hadn't gotten herself _killed_ was some offensive spells because this was _ridiculous._

When Valtor had neared, he could see ice creeping around the building and chasing a panicked Bloom as she raised out towards the balcony before realizing she was trapped. She spun around to find the ice almost reaching her before determinedly straightening herself and creating a barrier.

Well. Perhaps she wasn't _completely_ useless.

The flaming shield was keeping the spell at bay for now which was a blessing, and it wouldn't have to for much longer, as Valtor dropped from the sky dramatically and landed atop the balcony in front of Bloom, disguise falling and flames erupting from his form, melting away the frost.

"Attacking my student again, Ms. Witch?" Valtor drawled as the platinum blonde gave him a predatory grin.

"Three against one, fella. Let's see if you bark _and_ bite," she said.

"Yeah! Tell him, Icy!" The storm witch said with a grin as her hands crackled with electricity.

"That isn't fair!" Bloom argued from behind the quartet, dropping her hands and the shield and crossing her arms.

"I must agree with Bloom," Valtor said with a mocking smile. "I believe you'll need a half dozen more on your side to have a chance to withstand my... _bite._ Last time certainly proved that, did it not?"

Icy's smile slipped and she growled, fists clenched tightly at her sides. "You're going to _pay_ for last time, asshole."

"Wait, _that's_ what this is about?" Bloom demanded incredulously. "That fight wasn't even that bad! It was a stalemate!"

"Not really; Icy blew all her magic on that primordial space spell and could've been taken down with a hit from your sexy teacher after that," The brunette witch mused, and her two companions shot her a glare. "What?" she demanded. "I was defending you!"

"Well if that's the case, why are you even bothering with a re-match? Val—Mike's right—

" Valtor rolled his eyes at the name. Dragon, he _hated it._ " —you guys were all completely creamed last time—!"

With a growl, Icy shot a dangerous-looking icicle from her palm towards Bloom, and Valtor swiftly intercepted it with a swift spell of his own, causing it to shatter into a million shards.

"Bloom," Valtor said patiently over his shoulder at the once again tensed girl. "With all due respect—"

"Shutting up," Bloom said, miming zipping her mouth closed and tossing away the key.

"Very good," Valtor responded as he twirled a finger and sent Bloom floating into the air with a yelp of surprise. Moments later she was engulfed in a blue orb and left to spectate safe above the upcoming action.

He then turned back to the witches and smiled coldly, crooking a finger towards them.

The storm witch charged first with a fist full of lightning and a war cry that Valtor simply dodged with a leap to the side before retaliating with a harsh elbow in the side. She squawked and stumbled to the ground as Icy snapped, "Stormy! You were _supposed_ to let Darcy go first!"

"I'm _sorr—_ ah!" Stormy leaped out of the way of a blast from Valtor and cracked the ground she'd just been standing on and continued to address her friends hovering in the air. "He just pisses me off!"

The brunette—Darcy—rolled her eyes before pressing fingers to her temple.

Valtor tensed. A mind witch.

He moved to dart forwards to stop whatever she was concocting only for his movement to abruptly halt. He glanced down at his now frozen foot, courtesy of the now smirking Icy, and his thoughts briefly drifted towards—

Shaking his head, Valtor shot at Darcy, only for Stormy to jump in front of her and hold up a shield in defense. However, this wasn't the simple spell he'd used when training Bloom—this one cut right through the mediocre barrier with ease and sent both witches crashing into the destroyed hotel room with a scream of shock and pain.

Valtor couldn't capitalize on his success, however, because Icy was charging forwards now, and he was forced to blast the rubble around his immobilized foot before he could dart upwards and kick at Icy's head.

The witch ducked under before aiming a magic-infused uppercut for Valtor's face that he blocked with his forearm, flinching when ice crept up the limb.

"Where's that _bite_ huh?" Icy smirked.

Valtor narrowed his eyes as he amped up his power, the ice melting from his clothes and flesh before exploding outwards and throwing Icy back. She cried out, heels skidding against the tile, but before she could regain her composure, Valtor had slammed his fist into her face and sent her crashing against the hotel's drywall. "You were saying?" Valtor questioned before sending a large amount of magic into his palm for one last—

Vertigo washed over him suddenly, and Valtor was left stunned and staggering backward. What…?

"Good job, Darcy!" Stormy cackled as Valtor fell to his knees with a grunt. Stupid mind spells. He _hated_ magic users with mind powers!

No, no, he had to focus. There was no way this _child_ was going to best _him,_ weak or not. Taking in a deep breath to stop himself from heaving out the contents of his stomach, Valtor tried to calibrate his thoughts. He needed to go up in the air where spells like that couldn't—

The world tilted, and it took Valtor a moment to realize it wasn't just in his head this time.

* * *

Bloom gasped in horror as she saw Darcy hit Valtor with a wave of some dangerous looking spell and then cried out in horror when she then proceeded to stomp her heel into the ground, causing half of the balcony to crumble away—taking Valtor along with it.

" _Valtor!"_ Bloom exclaimed in panic from within her orb, pounding at the orb desperately as she watched him scramble blindly for purchase with that spell still making him go loopy.

Gritting her teeth and setting her sights on that Darcy girl, Bloom rammed her shoulder into the orb and he squeaked in pain.

Okay. Bad idea.

Instead, taking in a deep breath, Bloom focused all her energy on destroying Valtor's barrier, clinging to her beating heart and desperation for an extra power boost. "Okay, Bloom," she muttered to herself before pressing her palms against the orb and watching them glow with vivid orange light.

This time, the orb shattered with blue embers mixed with her own fiery ones as she fell from the sky with a war cry on her lips instead of the fearful scream she probably should've been letting out since she was falling from _pretty_ darn high.

Darcy looked up at her in surprise, just in time to be tackled to the ground with a hard _THUD,_ and smacked harshly in the face with one of Bloom's wedges that she'd torn off her foot quickly as a weapon. The two other witches turned towards her in equal shock, taking their attention away from Valtor as he regained his bearings and shot up back into the sky with a scarily unhappy snarl on his face.

His pupils faded to a fiery red and his body was outlined in an indigo light that had his hair floating. Icy was the first to notice, but Bloom couldn't see what was happening because Darcy had switched their positions and was now catfighting her—hair pulling, scratching, screaming, and all. Luckily she was too close to use any spells and Stormy didn't seem willing to risk hitting her friend to get Bloom.

Or so Bloom had thought.

Unimaginable pain shot through her system as lightning coursed through it. Both she and Darcy screamed in agony, twitching and spasming on the ground. Darcy recovered quicker than Bloom, barking, "What is _wrong with you?!"_

"I was trying to get her off you! You're welcome!"

"You couldn't have used a less painful spell, you moron?!"

As the argument continued, Bloom slowly pushed herself to her knees with a pained groan and squinting blearily up at the now too bright sky. Icy and Valtor were bursts of color and power that echoed across Magix. If Bloom didn't feel like knocking unconscious from pain, she would be watching with a feeling of " _wow!"._ But at the moment, all she could manage was a vague " _ooh...ow…I hope Valtor doesn't die...or me...ow."_

Her vision was dragged away from the two dueling forces when Darcy, who had stopped arguing with her friend some time outside of Bloom's notice, snatched her by the hair and pulled her painfully to her feet. "Hey, Pretty Boy! _Catch!"_

Bloom didn't realize what the witch was talking about until she'd kicked her off the balcony and sent her tumbling into thin air.

The world spun dizzyingly and confusedly, snatching away any logical thoughts Bloom could try forming to get her out of her current predicament and sending them off to the wind. Her heart was hammering and she was finding it all too difficult to take in enough oxygen.

"Where're your wings, _fairy?!"_ Icy's mocking voice cut through both the sharp wind and the confusion of her downfall, but instead of making her feel as hopeless as the ice witch wanted her to feel, she felt the opposite as her conscious mind took on its own voice. " _Yeah, fairy of the Dragon Fire—where_ _**are**_ _your wings?"_

...except in a _not_ sarcastic way.

And then that determination from last night came surging back tenfold. She wasn't going to die like this; being flung off a building like a comic book damsel and breaking against the concrete. No. She was going to get _right back up there_ and stick it to those witches!

And then she was blinded, her descent slowing as the world faded and a familiar dragon tore from her chest. It wrapped around her, infusing her with power, energy, and strength before exploding in a flash of embers like all her other spells and leaving Bloom emerging from the flames like a butterfly from a cocoon.

Complete with a pair of fluttering wings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: *Dances as RAI transformation song plays*
> 
> ANYWAYS! The next chapter should be soon, and it is there where we will see Bloom and Valtor's first-ever heist!
> 
> ...Bloom won't know that tho. Lol
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Fantasy Fan OUT!


End file.
